Red Bull reveals reason behind Verstappen and Hadjar FP1 issues in Austria

The Red Bull team boss admitted the outfit were not fully prepared for the setbacks they encountered as the pit lane opened for the opening on-track session of the weekend in Spielberg. Once running began, several teams, most notably Red Bull, were forced to delay their programmes during the early stages of FP1.

Verstappen, who had initially headed out ahead of Hadjar, managed only around five metres before his car came to a halt, with the four-time world champion reporting a clutch-related issue on the RB22. The Dutchman was pushed back to the garage, but his troubles continued shortly after, as he again stalled in the pit lane, this time directly in front of the Ferrari garage.

While the team worked to resolve Verstappen’s issue, Hadjar also had to wait to take part in the session, with the Frenchman forced to step out of his car as mechanics carried out extensive work. Both drivers eventually returned to action, but only after losing valuable track time.

Asked about the problems affecting both cars in FP1, Mekies explained that Hadjar’s delay stemmed from an engine-related issue, which forced a late change.

“You're never quite prepared for these sorts of moments, but it's part of the game. At first we had an engine issue on Isack's car before the beginning of the session, so we had to do a very late call to change his engine,” Mekies said via Sky Sports.

The Red Bull team principal went on to praise the mechanics for their rapid response, while also clarifying that Verstappen’s issues were linked to software problems.

“The guys have been fantastic and managed to do it, but we've lost the first half an hour of the session. Luckily, the car is now complete, and Isack has done his first lap, so hopefully there won't be too many consequences from that. And then on Max, we also had a troubled start with a couple of software issues that got us stuck in the garage. But it's now fixed, so we can concentrate on the many homework we have to do in preparation for the weekend,” Mekies added.

Earlier, the FIA confirmed that Red Bull, alongside Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes, were among the teams to make changes to their Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. While several teams changed the ICE for both drivers, the Milton Keynes-based outfit only made the switch for Hadjar.

The four teams also made changes to their respective turbochargers amid a flurry of engine-related updates introduced ahead of the weekend in Austria.