Hadjar fumes over Red Bull start issues: "I'm not a computer"

The Red Bull driver qualified sixth but struggled off the line and was down in 14th by the end of the opening lap. He recovered to finish sixth, but only after Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc suffered late retirements and was lapped by racewinner Lewis Hamilton.

It was a difficult weekend for Hadjar who lost his first Red Bull podium on Friday after Alpine's successful appeal promoted Pierre Gasly back to third position at the Monaco Grand Prix. Meanwhile in Barcelona, Hadjar had struggled off the line throughout the weekend.

Speaking in the paddock after the Barcelona Grand Prix, the French driver said that he had struggled with practise starts across the weekend and is not happy with the start procedure of his Red Bull.

“I think out of the six practise starts we had the whole weekend that one was the worst. And it had to happen on the grid. I stalled twice, which I never did the whole season. So yeah, we need to fix these issues because the procedure is way too complicated.

“I’m not a computer, I’m not a machine, I can’t be 0.0001% precise. It’s not working.”

He also told F1 TV: "We just need to work on our starts, because it's just yeah it's not possible to keep going like that. Every race weekend it's the same story. Today was a nightmare, but the whole weekend I was struggling. It's really the point we need to work on because everyone's made progress, but I went backwards [again]. So, yeah, procedure is too difficult. Window is too small."

Other teams have experienced similar problems earlier in the year but appear to have found solutions. Mercedes, in particular, has made significant progress, after Kimi Antonelli in particular struggled during the opening rounds of the 2026 championship.