(Image Credit: X)
Red Bull Racing faced their first pre season shakedown of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona but needed to stop their testing after French driver Isack Hadjar crashed the team’s new RB22 car during the afternoon session. Hadjar, 21, who was promoted to Red Bull’s main F1 squad for the upcoming season, had taken over driving duties from Max Verstappen in the wet, rain affected conditions and was running on intermediates when he lost control exiting the final corner and spun into the barriers. The rear of the RB22 suffered damage from the impact which caused Red Bull to end their second day of testing operations.
The crash occurred during a period of difficult weather conditions which restricted track access for teams from the Barcelona shakedown because continuous rain prevented most teams from driving and created obstacles for them to test their new 2026 technical regulations. The Tuesday wet conditions were only active for Red Bull and Ferrari because McLaren and other teams decided to delay their practice sessions.
Hadjar had shown promise earlier because he achieved competitive times on Day 1 but the track conditions became unmanageable because of surface problems and late session weather changes. The French driver remained unhurt after the serious collision according to reports from the team while team principal Laurent Mekies described the incident as ‘very unfortunate’ because testing became particularly difficult under those weather conditions.
Red Bull’s testing timetable remains uncertain because the team needs to assess the damage from the incident before deciding when to use their remaining testing day during the Barcelona five day session. Red Bull needs to decide its next steps because the team can only use three shakedown days out of five while they have limited spare parts during this initial development phase. Mekies explained that the team dedicates its resources to building repairs while developing its new schedule because the team needs to learn from their current situation after their disappointing performance.
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