How a battery issue robbed frustrated Hadjar of a podium in Sepang

Isack Hadjar always sets high standards for himself, and the Red Bull driver is rarely completely satisfied with a race result.

Perhaps not surprisingly then, Hadjar was left bitterly disappointed after a potential podium finish slipped out of his hands due to a battery issue for his Red Bull machine in the closing laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Instead he fell back to finish P5 – still good progress from his penalised P8 starting position, but far less than he had anticipated at one point in the race.

Having made the optimum choice for intermediate tyres at the start he immediately moved up, taking advantage of the fact that four cars ahead started on slicks, while also losing one spot to Liam Lawson.

By Lap 6 he had passed the man who kept his RB22 seat warm for three races to claim fourth, and from there he initially had a good view of the battle up ahead that featured his team mate Max Verstappen and Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

However any hopes he may have had of joining the fight faded as he struggled for grip and couldn’t match the pace of the guys ahead – and he had no explanation as to why.

“No, but something was wrong,” Hadjar said. “Because I can't possibly be a second lap slower now, even compared to a Mercedes, where the whole weekend we were quicker. And now in the race we're absolutely nowhere. The car was horrible to drive.”

The Frenchman's struggles were evident in his surprised response on the radio when later in the race he was told that he was fighting Lewis Hamilton – who at one stage was far behind in his Ferrari.

"Yeah, he was 15 seconds behind me, and then in a couple of laps he was [right] behind, when the whole weekend I was pretty fast. Yeah, we need to fix the issue, and come back in Singapore and do better.”

Hadjar was still fourth during the last Safety Car period, and he then gained a spot when Russell stopped on track. However after the restart he struggled with a battery issue, and in the closing laps he was passed by first Hamilton, and then Charles Leclerc.

“Just the last couple of laps, I don't know how we ended up having no battery,” he said. “So in the straight, I couldn't defend against the Ferraris, so we lost the podium on something so stupid.

“I think the power unit was fine. It's just the first two laps of the restart, I don't know why we were so down on battery. Then it stabilised itself, and then I was fast again. Otherwise, I would have kept third.”

However, the main issue was chassis-related: “I don't know, just the grip – even behind the Safety Car, I was feeling that I had no grip, and it was going to be a tough restart for me. So it felt like I was always on the same tyres – I came back on the run one compound – so it's a joke.”

It was a great day for Verstappen, the Red Bull team and Ford as they logged the first win of the 2026 season, but Hadjar was in no mood to celebrate: “It's not a good day for me. I'm happy for the boys – but yeah, it's a disaster for me…”