Hadjar calls Red Bull ‘undriveable’ after set‑up changes derail Austin practice

French rookie Isack Hadjar admitted that his Red Bull RB19 felt "undriveable" during the second practice session at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Saturday. The 22‑year‑old, who is completing his debut season with the team, said a series of set‑up changes introduced after the first practice session left the car lacking the necessary rear‑end grip to be competitive.

What went wrong?

According to Hadjar, the team altered the rear‑wing angle and suspension geometry in an attempt to improve straight‑line speed for the high‑speed Austin layout. While the changes did shave a few tenths off his sector times on the long back straight, they also destabilised the car through the fast, sweeping corners of Turns 3 and 4. "We lost a lot of rear‑end grip, the car was sliding a lot and it felt very unpredictable," Hadjar told the team’s engineers after the session.

Red Bull Racing, which has dominated the 2024 season, has not commented publicly on the specific set‑up tweak, but the team’s performance director, Guillaume Rocquelin, confirmed that the engineers were "experimenting with a new aerodynamic package" for the United States round. The experiment appears to have back‑fired for Hadjar, who was already struggling to match his teammate, Max Verstappen, in the opening practice.

Implications for the weekend

Hadjar’s comments come ahead of qualifying, where he will need to extract maximum performance from a car that is still being fine‑tuned. The Frenchman qualified 12th in the first practice, but his lap times slipped in the second session, placing him near the back of the field. If the team can revert to a more stable set‑up before qualifying, Hadjar could still fight for a top‑10 start, but the margin for error is slim.

Red Bull’s rivals, particularly Mercedes and Ferrari, will be watching closely. Both teams have shown strong one‑stop strategies in Austin, and a compromised Red Bull could open a window for a surprise podium finish for a non‑Red Bull driver.

For Indian fans

The United States Grand Prix will be broadcast live on FanCode in India, with the practice sessions starting at 02:30 IST (Saturday) and qualifying at 06:00 IST (Saturday). The race itself kicks off at 14:00 IST on Sunday, giving Indian viewers a convenient afternoon slot. Fans of Hadjar, who joined Red Bull as a junior driver last year, can watch his attempts to regain confidence on the track and see whether the team can sort out the set‑up before the crucial qualifying session.

Source: Formula1.com