While the Red Bull team is aiming to introduce the ADUO as soon as it becomes available, Paris-born rookie Isack Hadjar didn’t hold back after the Japanese Grand Prix, pointing the finger not at the power unit, but squarely at the car itself.
“Milton Keynes, we have a problem.” In reality, it seems there is more than just one. Red Bull closes the first stretch of the 2026 Formula 1 season as the fifth-strongest team in the championship, trailing behind Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, and even Haas.
The team has scored only 16 points across Australia, China, and Japan, marking a severely underwhelming Asian campaign, particularly in terms of performance.
At Suzuka, the RB22s managed to score points solely with Max Verstappen, while Isack Hadjar was held back by battery issues precisely when he was fully engaged in a fight with Pierre Gasly and his teammate.
The Parisian finished the race outside the points, despite demonstrating that he more than deserves his seat at Red Bull, thanks to a series of strong performances that have seen him remain not far—actually very close—to the level of the legendary Max Verstappen.
However, at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix, Hadjar unleashed a candid and forceful critique. His determined and straightforward character had already been evident in the previous season, but his comments after Suzuka made this trait even clearer.
“Well, that’s not even 1% of how bad this race was. So, it’s not a big problem. I just need to understand why that battery issue happened so early. I was comfortable in eighth place. The plan was to fight with Pierre, which we were doing. And then everything vanished with the dead battery. And at that point, you’re simply powerless.”
Putting aside the battery issues and the battle with Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar began his critique of Red Bull. The target was the RB22, not the power unit—which he praised as good—but the chassis. This is new, as the Austrian-British team has historically been known for the strength of their car’s handling and balance.
“Anyway, we didn’t have a good pace. We expected it, but it was worse than the previous days of the weekend. It was really undrivable. It was even dangerous. So it was complicated.”
“The only positive aspect is that now I can drive the car, even fast. But we have no guidance on how to make it faster.”
“We have a good power unit. The engine is good. Everything… It’s the chassis, it’s terrible. We’re simply slow in the corners. There’s no grip,” concluded the Parisian driver.
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