After the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar was pleased with his RB22’s overall pace but lamented the mechanical issues that kept him from challenging for the win alongside teammate and race winner Max Verstappen.
It was a challenging 2026 F1 Singapore weekend for Isack Hadjar, as car issues with his Red Bull saw him drop out of the sprint race, and he couldn’t set a lap time during Qualifying on Sunday.
Starting from the pit lane on medium-compound tyres, the 22-year-old initially struggled to make up ground. Running in P15, the Red Bull driver made his first and final stop on Lap 33 to mount the softs. From there, the French-Algerian made steady progress to finish P10, taking a single point after a challenging weekend.
Hadjar on his 2026 F1 Singapore GP weekend
Speaking in the print media pen after the 2026 F1 Singapore GP, Hadjar was pleased with the overall pace but lamented missing the chance to fight for the victory.
“Definitely good pace, but I don’t know what to say.
“It’s just surprising we could make that race entertaining considering it’s very difficult to overtake around that track.
“So, I’m quite happy about that, but I would have liked to make use of that pace to fight for a win.”
Heading into the 2026 F1 Singapore GP from the pits, Hadjar didn’t worry about simulation models predicting his potential progress in the race, opting instead to “just send it.”
“I didn’t look at that [simulator data], to be honest. I just sent it.”
While Red Bull’s youngster ultimately finished P10, he wasn’t confident about a points finish early in the 2026 F1 Singapore GP as he was trapped behind Franco Colapinto. Only after switching to the softs was Hadjar able to “unlock” the RB22’s full potential, passing the Haas drivers and Pierre Gasly to get a point.
“At some point, I was like, anyway, this is a train. I’m never going to finish in the top 10 and then on that soft tyre I knew I had good pace to unlock, but I didn’t think I would be that fast, so that was nice.”
Eager to get on top of cars issues to fight for podiums
After two challenging rounds in Malaysia and now Singapore, where his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen claimed back-to-back victories, Hadjar is eager for an issue-free weekend so he can challenge for wins himself. The 22-year-old will thus work together with the team to resolve the issues that plagued him during the 2026 F1 Malaysian and Singapore GP races and allow him to challenge for “podium” in the upcoming rounds.
“Since Malaysia, I’m just desperate to have a car that’s working a bit better on my side to fight for a win, because at the moment… it’s not possible to fight.
“So now we need to reset and understand what happened since Sunday in Malaysia to make sure to come back to Austin and fight for podiums.”
After facing issues throughout the weekend, Hadjar reckons the 2026 F1 Singapore GP proved more demanding for his side of the garage than for him, making him eager to head out and “try again.”
“It was definitely not very challenging It was challenging for my mechanics, they suffered quite a lot for just one point. It’s definitely their weekend, and they deserve better, so I’ll try again.”
Expectations heading into the race
On a track that is difficult to overtake on, the Red Bull driver faced an uphill battle, starting from the pit lane. Asked whether he was excited ahead of Sunday’s 2026 F1 Singapore GP, Hadjar admitted:
“Not very.
“On paper it’s a bit of a boring race, so I just tried to enjoy it, and I did actually.”
Puzzled by recent issues
Given that his teammate was able to secure two wins during the triple header, it’s safe to assume that the Red Bull has potential, posed with the question of what he believed was the issue on his side during the previous round in Malaysia and this weekend’s Singapore GP, Hadjar responds:
“I don’t know,” adding that the engineers need to figure out the issue.
“Nothing I can work on, to be honest. Fortunately, I’m not an engineer.”
