Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar finished the 2026 F1 Malaysia race in P5 but was extremely frustrated and annoyed for multiple reasons after the flag fell.
3rd fastest in qualifying, he dropped to P8 on the grid because of an engine change outside his allocation. That became P5 into Turn 1, before quickly passing Liam Lawson for P4.
Having held a 12s gap to Lewis Hamilton on Lap 21 once the Brit cleared the New Zealander for 5th, he quickly caught the Frenchman, getting the gap to under a second by Lap 38. However, the seven-time World Champion was stuck there initially because of the straight-line speed of car #6.
On the final Safety Car restart, though, Isack Hadjar saw his 2026 F1 Malaysia race unravel. He had battery issues on the first two laps, leaving him as a sitting duck against Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. George Russell’s bad luck had meant he was heading for 3rd before some misfortune also came his way. In the end, he fended off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Isack Hadjar laments series of problems in 2026 F1 Malaysia race
While Red Bull ended up delighted thanks to a superb win for Max Verstappen, the French driver was annoyed in the print media pen.
“Yeah, no pace, no pace,” was his first response.
Adding further to it, he was perplexed by the fact he could not be anywhere near close to Kimi Antonelli and George Russell despite outqualifying both Mercedes cars on Saturday.
“No, but something was wrong.
“I can’t possibly be a second lap slower now. Even compared to the Mercedes, where the whole weekend we were quicker. And now, in the race, we’re absolutely nowhere. The car was horrible to drive.
“And in the last couple of laps, I don’t know how we ended up having no battery. So in the straights, I can’t defend against the Ferraris. Lose the podium on something so stupid.”
Hamilton rapidly closing him down
As the 106-time race winner chased Hadjar down in the Red Bull driver’s second stint, his race engineer Richard Wood told him Hamilton was faster in all corners, to which Hadjar angrily responded with: “Oh okay, thank you. I am done, done. How is that possible?”
Isack Hadjar briefly spoke about it after the 2026 F1 Malaysia race.
“Yeah, he was 15 seconds behind me, and then in a couple of laps [17], he was [right] behind me, when the whole weekend, I was really faster.
“Yeah, we need to fix the issue. Come back in Singapore and do better.”
Hadjar struggling for grip on tricky surface
When it was put to him if car degradation was the issue for his problems on Sunday, the 22-year-old pointed to the chassis as to why he was hemorrhaging lap time. Before he made his second stop of the afternoon, he was over a second a lap slower than teammate and race winner Max Verstappen. In fact, it was a full 2s on Lap 30.
Such was the difficulties he had, Isack Hadjar said it felt like he was running on a single set of tyres through the entire dry period of the 2026 F1 Malaysia race.
“No, it’s on the chassis side. The power unit was fine.
“It’s just that the first two laps of the restart, I don’t know why we were so down on the battery. Then it stabilised itself, and then I was fast again. Otherwise, I would have kept third.
“It was just the grip. Even behind the Safety Car, I was feeling that I had no grip, and it was going to be a tough restart for me.
“It felt like I was always on the same tyres. I came back on the run one compound, so it’s a joke.”
While he was happy for Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen took their first win of 2026, he could not hide his frustration at his tough day.
“It’s not a good day for me. I’m happy for the boys, but it’s a disaster for me.”
