Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies delivers first RB22 verdict after ‘unfortunate’ Hadjar crash

Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies described Isack Hadjar’s crash on Tuesday in Barcelona as “very unfortunate” after promising early signs from the team.

Red Bull has only one day left to work with, following a positive opening day, and a more challenging Day 2, where Max Verstappen triggered a very brief red flag, the rain arrived, and Hadjar ended the afternoon in the wall. Nonetheless, Mekies praised his team for an “incredible” effort to have the RB22 ready to run from Monday morning.

Red Bull setback leaves Mekies balancing progress and damage repair

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Red Bull and Ferrari earned early praise from Mercedes’ George Russell after a strong start to the closed-doors Barcelona test.

With media shut out from the event, Hadjar was said to have set the unofficial pace on Day 1, completing 107 laps in the process.

Day 2 was less straightforward. The red flag triggered by Verstappen’s innocuous trip through the gravel was brief, and of little significance to Red Bull’s running. What did prove more problematic was the rain that arrived mid-morning, ahead of schedule. Only Red Bull and Ferrari took to the track during Day 2.

For Red Bull, it ended on a low point. Images and footage emerged on social media which appeared to show Hadjar’s Red Bull in the wall at Turn 14. Red Bull later confirmed the incident.

It was an “unfortunate” crash for Hadjar, one which he thankfully walked away from unscathed, said Mekies, who also looked to highlight the positives for Red Bull, as their RB22 – running the very first Red Bull Ford power unit – hit the track.

Mekies, speaking with the Formula 1 website, said Red Bull knew there would be a “special atmosphere” and a sense of tension in the air as they arrived in Barcelona.

He added: “A big thank you and well done to everybody back in Milton Keynes, chassis side, power unit side, because it was incredible to see the car going out at a few minutes past nine on Monday morning, with our own power unit.

“We know we have to do our homework, and we have to do it step by step. Nonetheless, we got quite a few laps yesterday [Monday] with Isack, which was a positive day, just starting to learn the power unit, starting to learn the car.

“Today, the weather was a bit more difficult. Max drove in the morning. We only got one run’s worth of dry running before the rain came. It’s part of the game. We felt anyway that it was interesting to run in the rain also with these regulations. Everything is new and we knew we would have a lot of work to do. So that’s what we’ve done.

“Then switching to Isack in the afternoon, again, no chance for dry tyres, but some good learning on the wet. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up in the right way.

“But, what is important is that Isack is okay, and we’ll try our best to repair the car and see what’s coming next.”

Asked if he could provide any further information on Hadjar’s incident, Mekies said: “It was very tricky conditions this afternoon. So, very unfortunate that it finished that way.

“But, it’s part of the game. Again, very tricky, a lot of work to do on many aspects, and these sort of things can happen.

“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.

“Early days, but great energy in the team, great spirits between Max and Isack and the whole team.

“We just can’t wait to have the next possibility to run. But, as I said, it’s something we are trying to analyse now and hopefully we get some answers a bit later on.”

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“In terms of what we were expecting from the power unit on these first couple of days, I can only repeat how proud we are from everybody back at the base to have managed to give us something that we could actually run with,” said Mekies.

“Of course, it’s very early days, and of course, nothing is perfect, but we could run and we could start to learn, work as one team.

“So, that was a huge satisfaction. It doesn’t change the size of the journey in front of us, but certainly, it’s a first moment that everybody in MK [Milton Keynes] should be proud of.”

Looking ahead to the final three days in Barcelona, Mekies said that the team would remain flexible, and adapt its programme to what comes Red Bull’s way.

The immediate priority at the end of Tuesday was to assess the damage inflicted on the RB22 by Hadjar’s crash. Red Bull has only one day left to work with, prompting a cautious approach as Mekies noted that the team must “play that card carefully.”

Each team is permitted to run across three of the five days, with Red Bull having taken to the track on Day 1 and Day 2.

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