Isack Hadjar Frustrated as Red Bull F1 Debut Goes Up in Smoke

Isack Hadjar endured a frustrating debut for Red Bull at the Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

A stellar first qualifying performance for the former constructors' champions saw Hadjar line up third on the grid, carrying Red Bull's flag on Saturday after teammate Max Verstappen crashed out in Q1.

The Frenchman had made a lightning start but was hampered by a lack of battery power, eventually falling to fifth at one stage before returning to the top four by the end of the first lap.

"Very frustrating," says Hadjar

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull, Australian GP 2026 — Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

He struggled with pace in the first 10 laps and was embroiled in a battle with his replacement at Racing Bulls, Arvid Lindblad, as the rookie put on a dazzling show on debut.

But smoke began to pour out the back of his Red Bull-Ford power unit on the run towards Turn 9 on lap 11 to leave a frustrated Hadjar out of the race, triggering the first of three virtual safety cars in a hectic race.

"I can't even count the amount of issues on the car that I had, so it was not fun," said Hadjar when addressing his short run on Sunday. "I don't like weekends where I do a very good job, no mistakes, I feel comfortable in the car and then the race doesn't follow.

"It is very frustrating. "We could be in the mix for maybe third, fourth. As long as we know why we went to a disaster, we will be fine."

LAP 11/58

🟡 VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR 🟡

Isack Hadjar pulls over to the side of the track at Turn 9, and is out of the race! 😢#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/7NEIt7fH0K
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2026

Further explaining his difficult start, Hadjar told the media, as per Crash.net: “I started the race with no battery. I had a very good launch and was taking the lead easy, so at least that’s a good point of the day, that we had very good starts. And once I thought I was going to take the lead, [I had] no more power, so that was great.

“You can imagine, for a couple of laps, I was spending time to recover. The engine sounded terrible, so I knew I was not going to finish the race. It was just a shame. We would have been in the mix with, I think, Lewis.”

While the race was disappointing, Hadjar put on the best display by a Red Bull second driver in many a year to give hope that the team's second-driver curse has now been lifted.

Teammate Verstappen, meanwhile, rose from 20th on the grid to finish sixth, failing to get past McLaren's Lando Norris despite a late race charge.