Due to the US-Iran conflict in the Middle East, the two April races have been called off with no replacement events scheduled, and while that will give teams more time to develop their 2026 challengers, Hadjar believes less track time may hurt his new team.

Red Bull have already endured a poor start to 2026, having picked up only 12 points from the opening two races, and suffered two DNFs in a row, most recently due to an ERS problem for Max Verstappen in China.

Speaking to media, including GPblog, after the Chinese GP, it was put to Hadjar whether Red Bull now had more time to work on upgrades during the break, and the young Frenchman replied: "Yes, and fewer points lost to everyone else, for sure."

But then, the 21-year-old then made sure to point out that having two less races on the calendar might actually hurt Red Bull's prospects of a recovery, as they try to get on top of the issues with a RB22 debuting a brand-new Red Bull-Ford power unit.

Hadjar explained: "The more racing the more we understand, the closer we get to the best engines on the grid.

Hadjar's teammate Verstappen, critical of both the 2026 regulations and the drivability of his RB22, also questioned whether the April break would be of any benefit to Red Bull during his post-race assessments.

Verstappen said: "After Japan, of course you have a few extra weeks to put a bit more performance on the car, but at the same time others also put performance, right?"

Despite Red Bull's torrid start, former advisor Helmut Marko has backed the Milton Keynes team to "catch up quickly" to the front runners.

The 82-year-old was more optimistic that Red Bull can use the April hiatus to their advantage, claiming that "anything is still possible."

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