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Isack Hadjar suffered an early setback as a Red Bull driver when he crashed on day two of F1’s Barcelona Shakedown. Hadjar found the barriers in the final half-hour of Tuesday’s rain-affected session.
While a video of the incident has not been shared given the private nature of the test, it’s believed that Hadjar lost control at the final corner and went into the wall backwards, breaking his rear wing.
Hadjar had started testing positively by setting the fastest lap time on day one. Much of Tuesday’s programme was already complete when he crashed, but he will hope that he hasn’t compromised the run plan for the rest of the week.
Should Red Bull be worried about Isack Hadjar’s testing crash?
As per the Barcelona Shakedown rules, Red Bull can only run on one of the last three days, having utilised the first two.
Red Bull chose to protect Isack Hadjar after Barcelona crash
Speaking to F1’s official channels on Tuesday evening, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies was keen to downplay Hadjar’s mistake.
He preferred to focus on the positives of Hadjar’s first outing on Monday rather than dwell on the accident. Mekies already managed the Frenchman at Racing Bulls last year before replacing Christian Horner in July.
“Look, it was a very tricky condition this afternoon, so very unfortunate that it finished that way, but it’s part of the game,” he said. “Again, very tricky, a lot of work to do on many aspects and these sort of things can happen.
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“These difficulties today came after a very, very positive day yesterday in terms of the number of laps Isack could complete in the car and in terms of his learning and development and feedback to the engineers.”
What’s more, at the time of writing, it seems that Red Bull haven’t made Hadjar available for an interview. He did speak to F1TV after day one.
It’s worth noting that Verstappen didn’t appear on Tuesday either. Still, by putting Mekies forward instead, Red Bull have protected their new signing, who will already be frustrated with himself, from any uncomfortable questions.
How would Helmut Marko have reacted to Isack Hadjar’s crash?
As he begins his first full year in charge, Mekies is expected to change the culture at Red Bull. Horner and, in particular, Helmut Marko were known to be impatient with underperforming young drivers.
After Horner was sacked and Marko left by mutual consent, Mekies is reviewing Red Bull’s handling of Verstappen’s teammates. He has said that drivers must feel fully supported to unlock all of their speed.
Marko called Hadjar ’embarrassing’ after his tearful reaction to crashing out of last year’s Australian GP, his F1 debut. While this error was less significant, the contrast in Mekies’ response is still telling.
It should be noted that Marko was instrumental in Hadjar’s promotion, having decided he would take Yuki Tsunoda’s seat as far back as last summer. But it’s unlikely that the 82-year-old would have been charitable after Tuesday’s shunt.
Marko can claim some credit for the success of Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, both four-time world champions, but there’s a far longer list of drivers who have flamed out under the intense pressure of his leadership style.
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