Hadjar calls his Bahrain race a 'disaster' despite Red Bull's historic win

Isack Hadjar finished fifth in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and called his own race a personal disaster, despite Max Verstappen securing a historic win for Red Bull's in-house power unit. Hadjar said a sudden battery problem at the late Safety Car restart, with three laps to go, left him unable to defend against the Ferraris.

Hadjar had passed Liam Lawson early and was established in fourth behind Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers. George Russell's retirement lifted him to third behind the Safety Car. After the restart, Lewis Hamilton passed him for third, and Charles Leclerc pushed him back to fifth.

Hadjar said Red Bull had been quicker throughout the weekend, but the car was horrible to drive and had no pace in the race. He thought he might have been losing a second per lap compared with Mercedes, and said he had felt no grip even behind the Safety Car.

He said he did not know why the battery level was so low during the first two laps after the restart; it later stabilised and he was fast again. He placed the problem on the chassis side and said he thought the power unit was fine. Although happy for the team, he said the issue needed to be fixed before Singapore.