Isack Hadjar admitted surprise at Red Bull’s “pretty decent” first day at the Formula 1 shakedown.
The Frenchman, who steps up from Racing Bulls for 2026, set the unofficial pace in Barcelona, finishing half a second clear of George Russell’s Mercedes.
Hadjar also surpassed the 100-lap mark, as Red Bull’s new in-house power unit demonstrated good reliability, the most important factor in this test.
“It was pretty productive. Surprisingly, we managed to do a lot more laps than we expected. Everything went pretty smoothly,” he reflected.
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“We had only minor issues, so it’s quite impressive considering it’s our first day with our own engine. It was definitely smooth.
“Honestly, it’s pretty decent for our first day.”
Alongside the new power unit, Red Bull also revealed a bold RB22 chassis, featuring the smallest sidepods of any 2026 car so far.
Asked how the new cars and engines felt to drive compared to 2025, Hadjar had some interesting observations.
“It doesn’t feel too far off what I’m used to, at least in my first season, on all of the upshifts and downshifts. There are still a few things to tweak around, of course, but it’s solid,” he said.
History in Barcelona 💙
RB22, powered by DM01, with Isack at the wheel 🫡#F1 || #RedBullRacing pic.twitter.com/yKD3lY7b6i
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) January 26, 2026
“It’s definitely a lot less load in general, but it’s a bit more predictable compared to the previous generation of cars – they are more simple, it’s easier to play around with them.
“Also, on the PU side, there are a lot more options for the driver to play with; I already started to work on it today, so that was very interesting.”
Teammate and four-time world champion Max Verstappen began his pre-season running on Tuesday.
Hadjar’s “bold enough” 2026 prediction
Hadjar enters 2026 on the back of an impressive rookie year in 2025, highlighted by a podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.
And asked his prediction for the upcoming season at Red Bull, the youngster isn’t backing down…
“It’s like rolling a dice with the new regulation,” he began, “bold… fighting for the world title, I guess. That’s bold enough.”
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Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies would certainly welcome Hadjar’s optimism as he attempts to solve a long-running issue for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
“We are not hiding behind the fact that we need to do a better job with that second car, and that includes the second part of last year,” he explained.
“Yes, we’ve made some progress with Yuki [Tsunoda], but not at the level that we felt we should have reached. So we are aware that we need to do a better job there.
“[Isack] would not like what I’m going to say, but I guess in some respects, the fact that everything’s changed in 2026, he’s also [been] given a reset about how you go about extracting as much as you can from the car.
“He’s fully aware of the challenge. He has his feet on the ground. He’s a very humble guy, and we are going to support him 360 to make sure that he can express his talent in that car.”
