Hadjar says he no longer likes F1 sprint weekends after difficult Singapore weekend

Isack Hadjar says he no longer likes Formula 1 sprint weekends, arguing that the single practice session leaves too little time to work through problems with his Red Bull.

After qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix, Hadjar said he had enjoyed sprint weekends in 2025 but no longer liked them in 2026. He said the car had been handling badly and that he wanted to see what a set-up change would bring. “I just don't like it,” he said. He added that it was difficult to learn anything on such weekends.

Motorsport.com attributed much of Hadjar's Singapore trouble to unreliability rather than the sprint format. He reported engine issues in sprint qualifying, had a power-unit failure in the sprint and suffered a broken fourth gear in main qualifying. After struggling to 10th in the full-distance race, he raised further powertrain trouble.

Hadjar also said a sprint race was planned for Monaco in 2027 and questioned whether it would produce overtaking. Formula 1 is set to increase the number of sprint weekends from six in 2026 to 10 in 2027.