Max Verstappen throwing his toys out of the pram is practically a weekly ritual at this point. But when his team-mate starts singing from the same hymn sheet, it tells you something far more uncomfortable is going on at Red Bull.
A Weekend to Forget
Qualifying for the Hungarian GP was grim viewing for anyone in Red Bull colours. Isack Hadjar finished a distant eighth in Q3, six tenths adrift of Lando Norris‘s pole, and he was not in the mood to dress it up. Not even slightly.
“It was really very disappointing. There’s not much to say. We just made no progress during the entire weekend. We are the fourth-fastest car, so that’s not good.” – Isack Hadjar
Fourth-fastest. Said out loud, by one of the drivers. That is not a leak from a disgruntled engineer; that is the team’s own man telling the world exactly where Red Bull currently stand.
Conditions Changed, Results Did Not
Hadjar also noted that improving track conditions across the qualifying session, including reduced wind compared to Friday, should theoretically have helped. They did not. His conclusion was blunt: if anything, Red Bull got slightly lucky with the timing.
“If qualifying had been run in worse conditions, we would have had no chance at all.” – Isack Hadjar
That is a remarkable admission. Not “we underperformed” or “we need to review the data.” The car, apparently, was barely holding on as it was. You can read more on Verstappen’s own furious reaction to the qualifying session, where he reported losing downforce from FP3 onwards with no fix in sight.
Hadjar Reads the Room
Hadjar is only in his first full season, but he is already developing the Red Bull tradition of publicly embarrassing the team when the car is not good enough. Friday’s practice data had already flagged serious concerns, and Saturday confirmed every one of them.
With grid penalties dropping both Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli back, Verstappen will start fourth rather than sixth. That is a gift, not a recovery. It papers over nothing.
The Bigger Picture
Red Bull sit fourth in the constructors’ standings on 151 points, already 207 points behind Mercedes. Two drivers publicly declaring the car is fourth-best, with no weekend progress to report, is not a bump in the road. It is starting to look like the road itself has run out.
