Red Bull F1 didn’t have the smoothest practice day ahead of the 2026 Hungarian GP, as Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen experienced mixed sensations throughout the different on-track sessions at the Hungaroring.
Red Bull ‘s Hadjar mentions worsening feeling in FP2 ahead of F1 Hungarian GP
The Frenchman, yet to score in F1 at the track, recounted his entire day after the end of FP2, admitting that he had felt more at ease with his RB22 in the earlier, morning session.
“One of the toughest Friday of the season so far. Conditions are very tricky, very bumpy as well, so it’s hard on the tyres, on the brakes. Kind of made a step back on the feeling in the car in FP2. I think in FP1 we had a better car overall. Long run pace looked pretty good, but we were missing on one lap.”
Isack Hadjar warns that there are several key factors that will come into play as he and the team decide their final set-up. In fact, tyre management, weather conditions and even more so wind intensity all play a significant role in Red Bull F1 ’s pre Hungarian GP assessment.
“Let’s see. Everything we do, we need to do it regarding the wind. If it picks up, then whatever you do on your car, it’s not going to be a step ahead. We need to see. The conditions are out tomorrow, we have a few ideas. Today is very gusty and it’s going to be tricky.”
Not even Verstappen is pleased with his car
The four-time F1 World Champion as well wasn’t content with the car performance and feeling, in spite of securing a rather positive FP1 finish in P2.
“It was a bit difficult to find a good balance in the car today. We just need to try to tidy that up a little bit and make sure we can get a good lap out of the car for Qualifying and then for the long runs as well.”
Verstappen looks forward to additional practice time in the morning, aiming at fixing the set-up before the grid setting session.
“We will need to look into what we can do overnight and how we can find more performance in the car. We will analyse everything with the team and see if we can make some positive changes. Hopefully, that will help us find some improvements going into FP3 and Qualifying tomorrow.”
Waché explains the reasons behind lack of pace
Red Bull F1 Technical Director Pierre Waché rounded off the ideas from his drivers, highlighting the hardships encountered by the driver duo on the Friday of the Hungarian GP. In addition to the signs cited by Hadjar, he stressed the impact the track surface has.
“A lot of complaints, difficult to drive the car, difficult to solve the issue with a massive change on the wind compared to P1, quite a lot stronger, difficult to find the line on this track, sorry, and the bumpiness.
“The problem is when the car is on the edge like that, a small perturbation affects massively the balance. That is something we have to make it, or the car won’t balance in terms of usage for the driver.”
Which will be Red Bull’s next steps?
Asked on the next steps to try and secure a fourth seasonal podium, Waché anticipated further work and tests in the upcoming FP3.
“Difficult to say, I think it’s clear that we are not quick enough, we have to work on and see where we will be at one point. We just have to try to see how we can improve, we cannot make miracles and just make it step by step.”
The Red Bull man also went into further details about the newly introduced updated rear wing, expressing his satisfaction at the positive and stable feedback received upon usage in the two sixty minutes long sessions.
“No, no, just we run the full day on that. At the moment it’s behaving correctly, we verified at the factory with a proof test, a massive proof test to not make it unsafe on the rear wing, I think that’s very important. No issue today.”
Finally, he is positive too about the upcoming sessions, as the new rear wing is expected to improve pace and performance, especially in Sunday’s race.
“We have some, we have to verify tomorrow in FP3, and from what I understood, the wing will also affect massively what we will do.”
