Red Bull Struggles as Isack Hadjar Crashes New Car in Barcelona Test

Red Bull had to revise their pre-season testing schedule at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya following Isack Hadjar, a 21-year-old French driver promoted from Racing Bulls, crashing during a private session on Tuesday. Hadjar lost control while exiting the final corner and spun into barriers in wet conditions.

Team principal Laurent Mekies noted that Red Bull had already used two of their three planned days for testing. If necessary, they could delay running again until Friday. “What’s important is that Isack is okay and we’ll try our best to repair the car and see what comes next,” Mekies said. The team would need to carefully analyze the extent of damage on the car to determine their next steps.

Hadjar had earlier described Monday’s dry session as productive, completing numerous laps in the RB22 chassis. Following this, a five-day shakedown will be followed by two open tests for media in Bahrain in February. Only Red Bull and Ferrari participated on Tuesday due to weather concerns; Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton reported 120 laps completed despite rain starting around 10:30 AM.

World champions McLaren delayed their track debut until Wednesday, also impacted by the weather. They will now participate in the remaining three days of testing. The new engine era for 2026 saw an overhaul of technical regulations, and Hadjar joined Max Verstappen in testing for Red Bull.