Heading into F1’s 2026 Chinese GP, Isack Hadjar of Red Bull has been doing a deep dive into the Australian GP. Hadjar retired in Melbourne despite a sensational P3 in qualifying. Unfortunately for him, his engine blew up in the race when running in P5.
Evaluating Hadjar’s F1 2026 Australian GP performance baseline
Isack Hadjar remains grounded regarding his prospects following his high-stakes debut in Australia in the Red Bull F1 car.
Despite outqualifying seasoned veterans, multiple race winners and World Champions, he maintains a clear-eyed perspective on where the car sits relative to the front-runners during the opening stages of 2026.
For the 21-year-old, he believes Red Bull sit P4 in the pecking order when talking a print media session on Thursday.
“Yeah, I’m still happy. But clearly the target, I think we’re more […] apart from Mercedes, I still consider we’re not as fast as the McLaren or the Ferrari. We’ll see that on Sunday.
“But we have enough to be fighting for good positions, so I only take the positives, I think qualifying third was a very good start for me. I think we, so far, before the season keeps going, I’m happy with our starting point.”
Hadjar on racecraft and execution ahead of 2026 F1 Chinese GP
Team leadership, particularly Team Principal Laurent Mekies, has already praised Hadjar for his clinical execution during the F1 2026’s season opener. The current head of Red Bull believed that the young driver did everything that was expected of him in Melbourne.
Reflecting on his first full weekend in the Red Bull seat, the 2024 F2 runner-up believes his integration has been smoother than anticipated, providing a solid foundation for the challenges ahead.
In fact, the young French driver could have led into turn 1 if he had a full battery. Hadjar had made a great getaway initially.
“Yeah, I think I did just a bit better than I wanted and I expected. I didn’t have much laps in Bahrain. As for the first weekend, there were no mistakes done. I think even the race start was very sharp. I did my best until we had all the issues. It was a very good weekend to start.”
Identifying technical weaknesses in the RB22
The shift in track characteristics this weekend brings the car’s handling into sharper focus for Isack Hadjar during this F1 2026 campaign.
He has identified a specific aerodynamic deficit from the previous round that the team must resolve with upgrades. Slow speed corners have been an issue for over two years now for Red Bull. It has continued into 2026.
Nonetheless, work is required on the PU side to catch up there as well.
“Definitely, the bar was set very high by some other teams on the engine side. They’re doing a good job, but there’s still more to do.
“And on the chassis side, to be specific, I would say we’re okay all around, but the slow speed corner is more of a weakness for us at the moment.”
