Hadjar calls Red Bull’s progress ‘better than we hoped for’ as he praises ‘reliable and powerful’ power unit

Isack Hadjar has admitted that Red Bull’s progress during the first 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain has been “better than we hoped for”, with the Frenchman labelling the squad’s new power unit as “reliable” and “powerful”.

The first day of the event saw Max Verstappen record the highest lap count, amassing a total of more than 130 laps during his full day at the wheel. Hadjar then took over driving duties on Thursday, but spent much of the morning in the garage after the team found an issue on the RB22.

Emerging just before the session came to a close, the 21-year-old went on to rack up plenty of mileage when he returned for the afternoon, ending the day with 87 laps under his belt and fifth quickest on the timesheets.

As Verstappen participated in Friday’s morning session before handing over to Hadjar for the afternoon’s running, Hadjar was asked for his thoughts on his new challenger – the first to run Red Bull Powertrains’ debut engine.

“Very surprised already from the Barcelona Shakedown to here, like how many laps we managed to achieve,” he responded. “The power unit seems so far reliable, powerful, so I’m very happy so far.”

Pushed on whether it feels like a car he will be able to get a lot out of, Hadjar continued: “It just seems easier to push to the limit compared to last year’s car. It’s a bit slower in general, and also lighter, smaller.

“It kind of feels similar in every slow to medium-speed range corners, but then in the high-speed it’s quite different. But so far, already I get to yesterday push it to the limit, kind of, so I’m happy.”

Reflecting on whether the team are hitting the targets that they had hoped to during testing, Hadjar spoke positively about where things stand.

“If anything it’s going a bit better than we hoped for, more on the PU side,” he explained. “Then on the balance, understanding of the tyre, we still have some work to do which is normal – I mean, a lot of work to do, but I’m excited.”

Ahead of his first season with the Red Bull team – having made the step up from Racing Bulls – Hadjar is feeling ready for what lies ahead.

“Already I feel like it’s a good start so far, so it’s a good way to start a big, big challenge,” he smiled.