Isack Hadjar Slams 'Undriveable' Red Bull Car After Difficult US GP Practice

Pulse Sports Team 10:09 - 24 October 2026

Isack Hadjar made no secret of his frustration with the start of the United States Grand Prix weekend, labelling his preparation a "disaster" and describing his Red Bull as "undriveable."

The young driver finished Free Practice 1 at the Circuit of the Americas down in 14th place, more than 1.5 seconds off pacesetter Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. Although he climbed to ninth in the second session and reduced the deficit to 1.1 seconds, his team radio messages and paddock comments revealed severe tyre issues through the fast first sector.

Hadjar explained that any time gained through the opening sector evaporated immediately due to rapid degradation on the soft compound.

"It's just a complete disaster," Hadjar admitted bluntly. "After Sector 1, where I actually set my lap time, for the rest of the lap I was slower than on the mediums. The car was completely undriveable; I was losing the front end massively. We need to look into it properly because having that much degradation over just one lap is not normal."

Asked whether the front axle was entirely to blame after navigating the opening sector, the 22-year-old was ruthless in his assessment: "The tyres were completely destroyed in the high-speed corners. Completely ruined."

Hadjar added that the team must understand why his approach is not delivering the same results seen on teammate Max Verstappen's side of the garage.

"Tyre temperatures are spiking drastically at the same pace. We need to shift the balance because we're running different setups. We'll try some adjustments, but honestly, I'm quite surprised by how poorly the car behaved," he concluded.