That podium finish was right there, and then it simply vanished. Isack Hadjar put together a stunning charge from eighth on the grid, fighting his way forward until a cruel battery failure on his Red Bull machine derailed everything in the closing laps.
Everything started so brightly when the Frenchman made the optimum choice for intermediate tyres at the start. While four cars ahead rolled the dice on slicks, Hadjar instantly gained ground—despite dropping one spot to Liam Lawson. By Lap 6, he had cleanly passed Lawson to claim fourth place. From that vantage point, he had a clear view of the fierce battle unfolding ahead between his team mate Max Verstappen and Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
So in the straight, I couldn't defend against the Ferraris, so we lost the podium on something so stupid.
Yet, that early promise quickly turned into a baffling lack of pace and grip. Hadjar watched helplessly as he slipped away from the leaders, completely devoid of an explanation for the sudden loss of speed. "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 afternoon went from strange to alarming when he learned over the radio that Lewis Hamilton—previously trailing far back in his Ferrari—was suddenly breathing down his neck. "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," Hadjar noted. "Yeah, we need to fix the issue, and come back in Singapore and do better."
Despite the mysterious handling woes and a severe lack of grip that made him feel like he was trapped on the same tyres all race, fortune briefly smiled when George Russell stopped on track, promoting Hadjar to fourth during the final Safety Car period. But the reprieve was short-lived. As soon as the race restarted, a sudden battery issue struck his car, leaving him completely defenseless on the straights against the charging red machines.
First Hamilton swept past, and then Charles Leclerc did the same, sealing a painful fifth-place finish. "Just the last couple of laps, I don't know how we ended up having no battery," Hadjar explained. "So in the straight, I couldn't defend against the Ferraris, so we lost the podium on something so stupid."
While Max Verstappen, the Red Bull team, and Ford were celebrating the very first win of the 2026 season, Hadjar was left staring at a bitter result. "It's not a good day for me," he admitted. "I'm happy for the boys – but yeah, it's a disaster for me…"
