The latest incumbent for the number two seat at Red Bull, Isack Hadjar, took to the Formula One Barcelona circuit in the RB22 this week. His lap time set on day one of the FIA declared ‘private test’ remains the second quickest to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli after three days were complete.
All timings are unofficial given the FIA’s preference for secrecy at the first test of the all new 2026 cars and powertrains, but Hadjar has impressed the Milton Keynes squad with how quickly he has adapted to the RB22.
He had a shunt late on Tuesday, which forced the team to send for new parts from back a base. Yet this is unlikely to disrupt Max Verstappen’s plans given Friday is expected to see the weather improve and allow more representative running time.
Drivers report “massive difference” from last year
A number of the drivers have commented on how different the all new racing machines for this season are to drive including Sergio Perez who sat out the 2025 season and has now returned to pilot one of the new Cadillac cars. “These cars are massively different. It’s still early days but this is the biggest reg change in my career and it’s a real challenge,” reported the Mexican after his first outing of the year.
Team mate Valtteri Bottas who also was sidelined last year as the Mercedes reserve driver agreed: “There’s a big difference; they handle different, there’s less load in high-speed corners but so much more torque out of the corners. Then you have to manage the battery. It’s a big learning curve,” reported the Finn.
Early simulations suggests the workload for the F1 drivers will increase significantly this season as they will be forced to make repeated energy management decisions, several times a lap. Having taken to the track for the first time in his Ferrari SF-26, Lewis Hamilton was bullish about the work the team had undertaken, yet he too believes it will take some time to understand fully how best to drive the all new cars.
“I think deployment’s going to be crucial, and understanding that, how to utilise the power, the battery throughout the lap, and recharging, all that kind of stuff,” revealed the seven times champion. “But, we’ve done a huge amount of work. Everyone’s done a huge amount of work on the simulator, so it’s not like it’s 100 per cent brand new for us, but we still have to go through our sessions and through the data to try and optimise it.”
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George Russell was sanguine after his first outing in the Mercedes W17 describing the experience as “quite different,” though he noted that after a short period of adjustment the feeling becomes “quite intuitive.” The Mercedes driver believes as the drivers adjust, “there is a lot for fans to look forward to” as the teams begin to unlock the potential of the new rules.
Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson admitted it will take time for him to get to grips with the new car designs and that as yet he hasn’t “got my head around it fully yet,” while Esteban Ocon was also lacking some confidence describing his new Haas F1 car as “very complicated.”
Newey Red Bull departure may play well for Hadjar
Hadjar dismissive of big differences
Yet despite his shunt on the afternoon of day 2, Isack Hadjar expressed views which appeared to contradict some of his rivals in that he felt the cars were not too different from their predecessors. “We were able to do a lot more laps than expected,” he said. “It all went pretty smooth. The car itself feels a bit more predictable than last year, more simple, easy to play around with.
“We have more options on the PU side and I was already starting to play about with it. It was a really decent PU for first day and the driving doesn’t really feel too different from before,” revealed the French-Algerian driver.
Red Bull being the first F1 customer team to design and build their own powertrain were expected to suffer difficulties at the Barcelona test, yet as Hadjar explained the team exceeded their own expectations in terms of the number of laps they were able to deliver. That said, rumours emerged on the eve of the third day at the Circuit de Catalunya that in fact the Milton Keynes based squad had suffered with cooling issues on the power unit.
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From his comments, Hadjar does not appear phased by his promotion alongside one of the generational racing talents in Max Verstappen. His nonchalance suggesting ‘there’s no big deal’ with driving the new cars is in stark contrast to a number of the other drivers.
After delaying their debut on track to continue their development to the very last minute, Lando Norris rolled out of the garage on Wednesday sporting his newly earned number one across his livery. The new world champion racked up 77 laps, setting the third fastest time along the way just behind those set by Kim Antonelli and George Russell.
Rob Marshall, McLaren’s Chief Designer descried the outing as “incredibly smooth. Our main focus was shaking down the car, getting as much information as we could from it, and giving us the opportunity to get a better understanding of how it runs, as the new regulations present us with an entirely new car.” On Thursyda Oscar Piastri takes over the driving duties for his first experience of McLaren’s MCL40.
Hamilton experiences ‘scary moment’ on his first outing
Lewis Hamilton had a scare on Thursday during Formula 1 testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The seven-time world champion climbed into his new Ferrari SF-26 for the second time this week, continuing to adapt to life at the Scuderia.
However, right at the start of the session, he lost control of the car for a moment, which was captured on video and circulated on X.
During the incident, Hamilton spun his SF-26 on a straight section of the circuit at relatively low speed. The British driver reacted quickly, regaining control of the car almost immediately and managing to keep it on the track….READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
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