Hadjar’s Barcelona crash threatens Red Bull’s 2026 preparations

Red Bull’s promising start to its 2026 pre-season testing took a dramatic turn on Tuesday, when new signing Isack Hadjar wrecked the RB22 on the second day of the shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. In treacherous wet conditions during the final hour of running, the French talent lost control at Turn 14 — the fast right-hander that feeds onto the main straight — and spun before backing into the barriers. The impact caused significant damage to the rear wing and suspension on Red Bull’s 2026 car, forcing the team to end the session early and casting uncertainty over the rest of the test programme still available.

The incident came out of nowhere given Hadjar’s outstanding start with Red Bull. Just 24 hours earlier, on Monday’s opening day, the highly rated prospect had finished top and completed 107 laps, providing engineers with hugely valuable data on the new car. The contrast could hardly be sharper: a productive day followed by an afternoon that left Milton Keynes with more questions than answers.

Driver error or technical issue?

The exact cause of Hadjar’s crash remains unclear. With the test held behind closed doors, no official timing data released, and only limited outside observation, analysts have found it difficult to determine whether the off was down to driver error or a car-related problem. What is clear, however, is that the wet conditions posed a huge challenge for every driver getting to grips with the unfamiliar 2026 machinery. Earlier, Lewis Hamilton — the seven-time world champion — also ran into the gravel in his Ferrari on his Barcelona debut, though he avoided any significant damage.

Max Verstappen, Hadjar’s team-mate, had negotiated the morning session without issue before handing the car over at lunchtime. The four-time world champion completed 27 laps in the morning and set an early benchmark on dry tyres of 1:19.578, around 1.5 seconds slower than Monday’s best time. His more cautious approach in the wet offers a useful reference point for the variables that caught teams out later in the day.

Only one day left, but plenty of unknowns

The crash has created a genuine dilemma for Red Bull’s test strategy. All 11 teams attending Barcelona’s private shakedown have access to three of the five possible days of track running. Having already used Monday and Tuesday, Red Bull is left with just one day remaining to extract crucial data from its radical new package. The maths is unforgiving: with extensive systems to evaluate, new operating procedures to bed in, and countless unknowns around performance characteristics, Red Bull must decide whether to use that final day immediately or wait until the repair situation is clearer.

Laurent Mekies, Red Bull’s team principal, stressed the team’s cautious approach in the aftermath. “The priority now is to assess the damage to the car and understand what opportunities it gives us in terms of being able to run in the coming days,” Mekies explained. “We have only one day left, so we need to make sure we play that card carefully, and it’s an analysis that will take a few more hours.” The comments underline how the crash has turned Red Bull’s week from a momentum-building exercise into a damage-limitation operation.

The bigger picture: Red Bull’s 2026 transformation

To understand the scale of Red Bull’s testing agenda, it helps to zoom out to what is an unprecedented undertaking for the team this season. This year marks the first time Red Bull is running an in-house power unit, developed through a partnership with Ford as a co-supplier. It is a seismic shift for the organisation, moving from an engine customer to a fully integrated manufacturer responsible for both chassis and power unit development.

Mekies’ remarks after the session highlighted the significance of that transition. “We knew it would be a very special moment to be here for the first time with the RB22 and our power unit,” the team principal reflected. Rolling the car out at 9:15 on Monday morning was a historic milestone — one that, as Mekies noted, was “a big thank you and well done to everyone in Milton Keynes, on both the chassis side and the power unit side.”

Still, as Mekies added cautiously, “we’re at the beginning and obviously nothing is perfect,” but the team has been able to “start learning and working as one team.” Barcelona, then, serves a dual purpose: validating the integration of the new power unit and establishing baseline performance data for the sweeping 2026 regulations, which will dramatically reshape F1’s technical landscape.

Hadjar’s modern F1 testing lesson

For Hadjar personally, the episode is a harsh lesson in the unforgiving margins of contemporary Formula 1. The young talent earned his Barcelona opportunity after impressing in the feeder categories with his speed and adaptability within the Red Bull system. But Monday’s success only amplified the impact of Tuesday’s setback — a reminder that, in an era of new rules, unfamiliar cars, and compressed testing windows, the smallest lapse in concentration or understanding can be costly.

Mekies, however, defended his driver against any overreaction. “In the afternoon the conditions were really tricky, so it’s very unfortunate it ended like that, but it’s part of the game,” the team principal said. He also stressed that Monday had offered genuine positives despite Tuesday’s outcome: “These difficulties came after a very, very positive day yesterday, both in terms of the number of laps Isack managed to complete in the car, and his learning, his development, and the feedback to the engineers.”

The road ahead

Red Bull now enters an intense assessment phase. The team must balance the urgency of extracting maximum information from its final test day with the practical realities of evaluating — and potentially repairing — Tuesday’s damage. The answers will significantly shape Red Bull’s approach in the final weeks before the 2026 season begins — a championship in which the new power-unit partnership and revised technical rules will redefine the competitive order.

For now, Red Bull’s Barcelona agenda remains on hold: Monday’s promise has been overshadowed by Tuesday’s complications.