Red Bull in crisis: Hadjar minimizes the damage, Verstappen falls behind

Qualifying left a bitter taste for Red Bull. While Isack Hadjar managed to come out on top despite a temperamental car, Max Verstappen suffered yet another disappointment. Starting eighth on the grid, the Frenchman saved face for the Austrian team, while the three-time world champion will start only eleventh.

A frustrated Isack Hadjar spoke to the press after qualifying. Despite securing an eighth-place grid spot, the Frenchman expressed disappointment with his car's performance. “I found the car very difficult to drive right from the first lap. I was able to make the adjustments I wanted, and it went a little better. But we're still not satisfied.”

Even though he doesn't benefit from the same upgrades as his garage neighbor, many settings have been changed since the weekend in China, leaving him with a still-unclear feel for the car. “We've changed a lot of things on the car, and it's not clear yet,” he commented to Canal+.

In this tricky situation, his eighth-place grid position almost feels like an achievement. Especially since he's ahead of his teammate, breaking (at least temporarily) the famous “curse” of the second Red Bull driver. Aware of how difficult the task is, Hadjar didn't hide his satisfaction. “I'm definitely happy because the car isn't easy, and I have a teammate who is who he is. I'm happy with what I'm doing, but I'd like to be fighting for pole positions.”

A Cold Shower for Verstappen

In contrast, the weekend is turning into a nightmare for Max Verstappen. Forced into the elimination zone when young Arvid Linblad beat his time by 1.5 tenths, the Dutchman was eliminated as early as Q2 and will start from 11th place. He attributes this poor performance to persistent car issues.

The Red Bull driver didn't hide his frustration after the session: “We have a lot of problems. We know what's going on; sometimes it's more or less predictable. The issues we encountered during practice came back in qualifying. The car was very difficult to drive; I was sliding.”

In the Austrian garage, it's time for experimentation. The team has indeed chosen to distribute different technical upgrades between its two cars in order to analyze their behavior. But the initial feedback is hardly encouraging.

Verstappen admits it himself: “I have the upgrades, but they're not great. They create instability that we don't want on the car. We wanted to keep them to observe the differences, and then we'll have a few weeks to see what works and what doesn't.”

The forced five-week break following the cancellation of the Grand Prix races in the Middle East could ultimately come at just the right time for Red Bull. Until then, the team will have to limit the damage on the track while waiting to understand a car that, for now, is eluding its own drivers.