This week the official 2026 F1 Pre-Season Testing in Bahrain started—Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar had a difficult start but finished the week making the top 10 in the time sheets.
Hadjar experienced a hydraulic leak on his RB22 in the morning of day 2 of F1 Testing in Bahrain, leaving the AM session with one lap done. He was able to recover in time for the PM session, ending the day with 87 laps overall.
On Friday, the Frenchman added 59 laps to the stats, being under 0.3s slower than teammate Max Verstappen.
On the outcomes of the test runs with the new car
Red Bull Racing separated from Honda after the 2025 campaign. Now Red Bull Racing works with engine supplier Ford. Speaking to Formula 1, the 21-year-old was asked to share his feelings on the RB22 featuring the Red Bull Ford engine.
“Very, I’m still very surprised, from already the Barcelona shakedown to here, like how many laps we managed to achieve,” the Frenchman said. “The power unit seems so far reliable, powerful, so I’m very, very happy so far.”
When asked about the expectations for the new car in the 2026 season, Hadjar shared how the changes affect driving compared to last year’s car.
“It seems, it just seems easier to push to the limit compared to last year’s car. It’s a bit slower in general. So and also lighter, smaller.
“It kind of feels similar in the every like slow to medium-speed range corners,” Hadjar explained.
“But then in the high speed, it’s it’s quite different. But yeah, so far I get I get to already yesterday push it to the limit, kind of so, I’m happy.”
Isack Hadjar looking ahead to the 2026 F1 season at Bahrain Testing
Red Bull had run laps as if there was no next morning, with 343 laps done at Bahrain International Circuit. Their new engine not only surprised Verstappen and Hadjar but also Toto Wolff (Mercedes), who had praised Red Bull’s performance. Nonetheless, Hadjar admitted that there are areas of improvement.
“If anything, it’s going a bit better than we hoped for more on the PU side then on the on the balance Understanding of the tyre. We still have some, some work to do, which is normal. I mean, a lot of work to do, but I’m excited.”
In the F1 2025 season, Hadjar showed what it takes to be a very good racing driver at this level. The Frenchman nearly made the top 10 of the drivers’ standings.
He was then promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull—a reward for his ambition.
However, with this switch, Verstappen’s new teammate will be facing bigger challenges that will impact his F1 career.
“Yeah already I feel like it’s a good start so far. So it’s a it’s a good way to start a big, big challenge.”
