His first on-track outing with the new 2026 car had got off to the perfect start, with the Frenchman topping the timesheets on day one while also completing a solid lap count.

However, a crash during the afternoon session of his second day left a small blemish on an otherwise positive test. Even so, there were no lasting repercussions, with Red Bull still completing its planned programme thanks to Max Verstappen running on the final day.

At the end of the week, the Frenchman took the time to address his crash: “Unfortunately, on Tuesday, just after switching from wets to inters, I lost control of the car in the final corner and I know the aftermath wasn’t ideal for the Team."

Despite that, Hadjar still came away with plenty of positive takeaways from his first official test: “I have already started to understand and work on things in the car, there are still a lot of things to tweak of course, but it has been steady so far. These cars are different, very different, there is definitely a lot less load in general and it is a bit more predictable compared to the previous generation, they are a bit more straightforward."

He finally added: “It is easier to play around with them and on the PU side there are a lot more options for the driver to play with. I couldn’t have prepared for this season any better and I am hoping to come into the year strongly, but we are definitely not done with the work yet, I am learning every day."

The Red Bull CEO and team principal refused to dwell on the incident involving the Frenchman, despite the crash forcing the mechanics into extra work to repair the car in time for the final day.

“It was a very tricky condition this afternoon, so very unfortunate that it finished that way. But it’s part of the game — again, very tricky, a lot of work to do on many aspects, and these sorts of things can happen."