Isack Hadjar has offered a clear explanation of what led to his crash in the Red Bull during Tuesday’s Barcelona shakedown.

The young French driver, newly promoted to the senior Red Bull seat for 2026, experienced a significant accident during the early testing week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after losing control at the final corner in wet conditions.

Isack Hadjar Breaks Down Red Bull Crash at Barcelona F1 shakedown

Hadjar had enjoyed a strong start to Red Bull’s first pre-season shakedown with their new RB22 car and Ford-backed power unit. On Monday, he completed a productive session totalling 158 laps with no major issues, making the most of the team’s first real running with the new package.

But Tuesday’s running proved far more treacherous. With rain leaving the track soaked, the team first ran the car with full wet tyres before switching to intermediates in the afternoon; a decision Hadjar now identifies as pivotal. Shortly after making that tyre change, he lost the rear at the final turn and slid off into the barriers, inflicting heavy damage to the rear suspension and bodywork.

“I lost control just after moving onto intermediates,” Hadjar admitted, acknowledging that the abrupt shift in tyre compound in slippery conditions caught him out. While he stressed his ongoing learning with the car, noting how different and more predictable the new generation cars are compared to last year’s models, the crash was nonetheless a setback for Red Bull’s limited test schedule.

Team principal Laurent Mekies echoed Hadjar’s perspective, characterising the conditions as “very tricky” and stressing that such incidents are part of the game when exploring new regulations and machinery.

Notably, the team had deliberately chosen to gather wet-weather data despite the risk, aiming to broaden their understanding of the RB22’s behaviour across a range of scenarios. However, the damage meant Red Bull had to reassess whether to run on the final permitted day of the shakedown; a potentially costly decision given the scarcity of spare parts and the importance of early development mileage.

Despite the mishap, Red Bull returned to the track on Friday with Max Verstappen, who completed over 100 laps and contributed further to the team’s data collection. Mekies praised the efforts of mechanics and engineers for repairing the car quickly, stressing that the weekend’s learnings were still valuable as Red Bull prepares for the season ahead.

Hadjar also pointed to the positives: the crash came after a strong first day and gave him additional real-world experience with the RB22. He remains focused on refining his feel for the car and continuing to build momentum heading into official pre-season testing in Bahrain.