Isack Hadjar joined Max Verstappen in openly criticising Red Bull after a deeply disappointing qualifying session at the 2026 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix. The French driver finished eighth in Q3, six tenths of a second behind Lando Norris, and admitted that the team had made no meaningful progress with the RB22 throughout the weekend.
Red Bull arrived in Budapest hoping to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari more closely after Max Verstappen had secured two podium finishes in the previous three races. Instead, McLaren’s significant step forward, culminating in Lando Norris claiming pole position at the Hungaroring, pushed Red Bull firmly into the position of fourth-fastest team with no apparent opportunity to close the gap to its main rivals.
A Saturday to forget for Red Bull in Hungary
The atmosphere within Red Bull was distinctly gloomy after qualifying. Max Verstappen, as forthright as ever, offered a severe assessment of the car’s performance after an increasingly difficult session ended with a spin at the final corner. The Dutch driver described the RB22 as undriveable as its grip and handling progressively deteriorated.
However, the strongest criticism did not come only from the four-time Formula 1 world champion. Isack Hadjar, whose growing importance to Red Bull has already raised questions about his future role within the team, was equally dissatisfied with the lack of improvement across the weekend.
Isack Hadjar says Red Bull made no progress
Isack Hadjar appeared visibly downbeat in the media pen and did not attempt to conceal his frustration after taking eighth place in Q3, approximately six tenths behind Lando Norris’s pole-position time.
“It was really very disappointing,” Isack Hadjar said. “There is not much to say, really. It is just that we did not make any progress throughout the entire weekend. That is what we can say at the moment. We are the fourth-fastest car, so that is not good enough.”
The French driver’s verdict reflected Red Bull’s broader difficulties at the Hungaroring. Neither Isack Hadjar nor Max Verstappen appeared capable of challenging McLaren, Ferrari or Mercedes consistently, leaving the team facing an urgent need to understand why the RB22 had failed to develop positively from Friday practice into qualifying.
Improved qualifying conditions fail to help Red Bull
Isack Hadjar also believed Red Bull had been unable to capitalise on conditions that became more favourable as qualifying progressed. With the weather and track characteristics continuing to evolve, the reduced wind should have offered the team some assistance compared with Friday.
Instead, Isack Hadjar suggested that Red Bull’s final result could have been even worse had qualifying taken place in more challenging conditions.
“The conditions keep changing, so the track we found was very different compared with Friday, and that should also have helped us a little because there was less wind,” Isack Hadjar explained. “But we are out of contention. If qualifying had taken place in worse conditions, we would not have had any chance.”
The comments from Red Bull’s number six underline the scale of the team’s concerns ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. With Max Verstappen also deeply unhappy with the RB22’s behaviour, Red Bull must determine why the car remained uncompetitive despite the changing conditions and why no progress was achieved during the weekend. The contrast with the front of the grid was particularly stark after an overnight wind shift contributed to an intense McLaren-Ferrari pole battle, while Red Bull found themselves effectively out of contention.
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