Isack Hadjar is not confident if Red Bull’s Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix upgrade package would be enough to “solve all our issues”.
The French-Algerian driver has endured a mixed bag in terms of fate at the start of the 2026 campaign.
On the one hand he has been categorically challenging team-mate Max Verstappen for pace.
On the other, however, he has been strapped into an RB22 that clearly isn’t par for the course to fight the leading pack.
That said, coming into the Miami GP weekend, after five weeks of no racing, Hadjar will debut the team’s first major upgrade package.
Red Bull has reportedly succeeded in its weight-shedding endeavors, but Hadjar isn’t sure that the RB22 is still ready to challenge at the sharp end of the field.
“I don’t expect to be fighting for podium this weekend,” he told media including Motorsport Week ahead of this weekend’s action.
“Naturally, we’re not the only team bringing updates. Obviously we’re bringing something a lot stronger, we believe, but I don’t think it’s going to solve all our issues.”
Hadjar sets Red Bull target for F1 Miami GP weekend
Hadjar wasn’t right back on pace during FP1, on Friday. The 21-year-old was 1.5 seconds off the pace in ninth.
In fairness, though, Hadjar had predicted this given he had been out of the seat for more than a month.
But looking forward to the rest of the weekend, he expects points – starting with a Q3 slot during Friday’s Sprint Qualifying.
“I hope we can be easing into Q3, by example, because we’ve been fighting very hard to get there so far,” he explained.
“That would be a step forward. And I also haven’t driven, like the other guys, in five weeks, so with only one session going into Sprint Qualifying, it’s going to feel quite awkward at the start. But yeah, let’s see.”
There seems to be pace to be unlocked in the RB22, however, with Verstappen only three-tenths off the timing sheet-topper Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
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