Max Verstappen's F1 team-mate feared 2026 was 'ruined' after testing crash

Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar walking into the Bahrain paddock during pre season testing — Photo: © IMAGO

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Max Verstappen's F1 team-mate feared 2026 was 'ruined' after testing crash

Hadjar knows he may only get one chance to impress at Red Bull

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 13 February 2026 21:58 Updated: 00:26

A star of the Red Bull F1 team has revealed their honest reaction after suffering a costly crash during pre-season testing.

The 2026 championship will kick off with the Australian Grand Prix is less than a month's time and yet drivers are still struggling to adapt to the new cars which feature a much heavier focus on electrical energy.

The new wave of regulations has introduced one of the biggest overhauls in chassis and engine rules in the sport's recent history, and with three times the amount of testing taking place before the 2026 campaign, drivers should have plenty of time to adjust.

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But even four-time champion Max Verstappen is taking umbrage with the amount of management and technical foresight required to drive the new cars, which begs the question whether his new team-mate Isack Hadjar will be able to adapt as the pressure builds around his position at the main team.

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Hadjar thought Red Bull would sack him after Barcelona crash

Hadjar's pre-season calendar got off to just about the worst start imaginable last month when he crashed the RB22 on only the second day of the five-day private testing event.

The incident occurred at the very end of the day two session and meant the team's shakedown plans were delayed until they had received more parts from Milton Keynes. As a result, Verstappen was sidelined until the final day of the shakedown, where he returned to the track in his new F1 car.

The reported damage of Hadjar's first crash with the main team was around $514,000.

Speaking in Bahrain this week, Hadjar reflected on his costly crash at the Barcelona shakedown, revealing what his immediate thought process was like after the incident.

"When I had the accident, I immediately thought of Pierre [Gasly]," the newly promoted driver said. "I went on Twitter, read everything, and thought I was ruined for the whole season."

Though the energy drink giants have kept him onboard for now, no one can blame the 21-year-old for feeling the pressure in his sophomore F1 season given the brutal record Red Bull have for sacking their second driver.

How many F1 stars have fallen to Red Bull second seat curse?

Pierre Gasly may have retained his spot in the sport with Alpine since making the move to the French outfit in 2023 but he was, as Hadjar alluded to, one of the victims of Red Bull's second seat curse.

Since Verstappen was promoted to the main Red Bull F1 squad in 2016, the team have struggled to find the perfect match for him in the shape of a team-mate.

After Daniel Ricciardo decided he didn't want to play second fiddle to the Dutchman, Gasly was promoted to replace him for 2019.

But after the first 12 rounds of the season, Gasly failed to meet expectations and was demoted back to the junior team, replaced by Alex Albon. The curse then continued to this day. Albon was replaced by Sergio Perez, and Perez was replaced by Lawson.

Lawson only lasted two race weekends in 2025 before swapping places with Yuki Tsunoda, who Hadjar has now replaced and left out of a full-time position for 2026.

It remains to be seen whether the former Racing Bulls star can survive at the main team or if he will be next on the Red Bull chopping block.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 2026 regulations