Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar labelled his soft tyre run in second practice at the 2026 United States GP “just a disaster” as Pierre Waché explained what went on overall. This happened after his front tyres faded in the esses section at the Circuit of the Americas.
Hadjar finished ninth in FP2, 0.931 seconds behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen. The Dutchman ended the session third, behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
Hadjar’s soft run at the 2026 F1 United States GP falls apart after Sector 1
Hadjar made his frustration clear over team radio during FP2. The Frenchman did not hold back when he spoke after the session.
“It’s just a disaster,” Hadjar said. “From sector one to the end of the lap, I was slower than on the medium. It was just undrivable and I was losing the front end massively. We need to have a look because that’s not normal. Why is there so much deg on one lap?”
Hadjar explained that the high-speed section of the opening sector had destroyed his front tyres. “Completely killed in the high speed. Completely killed,” he said.
The Red Bull driver pointed to the balance of the car as the root of the problem. The tyre temperatures climbed without any gain in pace.
“It’s like the temperatures are going sky high and we’re going at the same speed, so we need to tweak something on the car balance,” Hadjar explained.
Hadjar also revealed that the two Red Bulls were running different set-up options. He admitted that the balance had caught him off guard.
“We’re running different stuff to try, but to have such a bad feeling, I’m a bit surprised, to be honest,” he said.
Waché says Red Bull must reverse set-up direction
Red Bull Technical Director Pierre Waché said that the team had taken Hadjar’s car in the wrong direction between the two practice sessions. Moreover, he stated that it would work to correct this overnight.
“I think it’s an overall set-up direction that we have to undo between P1 and P2, and it’s what we are working on this evening,” Waché said.
Waché insisted that the set-ups on the two cars were not far apart. Instead, he explained that the layout of the circuit leaves little margin for error. A driver who pushes the tyres too hard through the high-speed corners after Turn 1 will pay for it over the rest of the lap because of overheating. Sector 3 features low and medium-speed corners at the start of it, properly testing traction.
“No, they are not far away, but with this type of layout, you have the full high-speed corner during sector 1, after Turn 1, and I think if you overcook the tyre there, it’s more or less finished for the lap,” he said.
Power steering change fixes Verstappen’s FP1 problem
Verstappen enjoyed a smoother day on the other side of the garage. He briefly topped FP1 before losing his fastest lap to track limits, and he finished the session second behind Leclerc.
During FP1, Verstappen reported a steering problem over team radio. Waché confirmed that Red Bull replaced the power steering before FP2.
“There was a problem with the power steering that we changed and now it’s better, it’s fixed,” Waché said.
Bumps and low-speed corners top Red Bull’s list at 2026 F1 United States GP
Verstappen had named the bumps as the big thing before the weekend. Waché admitted that the car had struggled over them on Friday.
“As you expect, it’s jumping a lot. The track is massively bumpy, especially Turn 1 on braking, you have to be very careful there,” Waché said.
He added that although Red Bull is running a softer set-up than it did last year, the car is still not as compliant over the bumps as the team would like.
Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull appeared closely matched on Friday, with each team showing different strengths around the lap. Waché was clear about where Red Bull needs to find time before qualifying.
“It’s clearly the low-speed performance that we are focused on at the moment. Low speed is the key for us,” he said.
