{"id":65019,"date":"2026-01-27T16:02:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T16:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/?p=65019"},"modified":"2026-01-27T16:02:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T16:02:27","slug":"hadjar-surprised-by-pretty-decent-red-bull-shakedown-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/hadjar-surprised-by-pretty-decent-red-bull-shakedown-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Hadjar surprised by &#8220;pretty decent&#8221; Red Bull shakedown start"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Isack Hadjar admitted surprise at Red Bull&#8217;s &#8220;pretty decent&#8221; first day at the Formula 1 shakedown.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Frenchman, who steps up from Racing Bulls for 2026, set the unofficial pace in Barcelona, finishing half a second clear of George Russell&#8217;s Mercedes.<\/p>\n<p>Hadjar also surpassed the 100-lap mark, as Red Bull&#8217;s new in-house power unit demonstrated good reliability, the most important factor in this test.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">\u201cIt was pretty productive. Surprisingly, we managed to do a lot more laps than we expected. Everything went pretty smoothly,&#8221; he reflected.<\/p>\n<h4>Also Read:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/russell-impressed-as-2014-fears-eased-at-f1-test\/\">Russell &#8220;impressed&#8221; by rivals as 2014 fears eased at F1 test<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/hamilton-2026-rules-the-biggest-shift-in-my-time-in-f1\/\">Hamilton: 2026 rules the &#8220;biggest shift in my time&#8221; in F1<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">\u201cWe had only minor issues, so it\u2019s quite impressive considering it\u2019s our first day with our own engine. It was definitely smooth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s pretty decent for our first day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Alongside the new power unit, Red Bull also revealed a bold RB22 chassis, featuring the smallest sidepods of any 2026 car so far.<\/p>\n<p>Asked how the new cars and engines felt to drive compared to 2025, Hadjar had some interesting observations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel too far off what I\u2019m 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\u2019s solid,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">History in Barcelona \ud83d\udc99<\/p>\n<p>RB22, powered by DM01, with Isack at the wheel \ud83e\udee1<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/F1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#F1<\/a> || <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/RedBullRacing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#RedBullRacing<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yKD3lY7b6i\">pic.twitter.com\/yKD3lY7b6i<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/redbullracing\/status\/2015855273840181568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 26, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a lot less load in general, but it\u2019s a bit more predictable compared to the previous generation of cars \u2013 they are more simple, it\u2019s easier to play around with them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"typography-module_body-s-regular__ul7F5 typography-module_md_body-m-regular__d9VRg typography-module_lg_body-l-regular__dPa5z\">\u201cAlso, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Teammate and four-time world champion Max Verstappen began his pre-season running on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<h4>Hadjar&#8217;s &#8220;bold enough&#8221; 2026 prediction<\/h4>\n<p>Hadjar enters 2026 on the back of an impressive rookie year in 2025, highlighted by a podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>And asked his prediction for the upcoming season at Red Bull, the youngster isn&#8217;t backing down&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like rolling a dice with the new regulation,\u201d he began, \u201cbold\u2026 fighting for the world title, I guess. That\u2019s bold enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DT-WDWaDCse\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DT-WDWaDCse\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies would certainly welcome Hadjar&#8217;s optimism as he attempts to solve a long-running issue for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; he explained.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, we&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Isack] would not like what I&#8217;m going to say, but I guess in some respects, the fact that everything&#8217;s changed in 2026, he&#8217;s also [been] given a reset about how you go about extracting as much as you can from the car.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s fully aware of the challenge. He has his feet on the ground. He&#8217;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Isack Hadjar admitted surprise at Red Bull&#8217;s &#8220;pretty decent&#8221; first day at the Formula 1 shakedown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":65020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[341,295,517,354],"class_list":{"0":"post-65019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-isack-hadjar","11":"tag-red-bull"},"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65019"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65021,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65019\/revisions\/65021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}