Max Verstappen found himself isolated on track in Spain, finishing fourth with concerns over Red Bull's performance. Isack Hadjar, despite a rocky start, managed to climb back to sixth place.
Max Verstappen has voiced the need for Red Bull to 'work harder' following a solitary drive to fourth place in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Meanwhile, his teammate Isack Hadjar battled his way to a respectable sixth after a tough opening lap.
Both Red Bull drivers started the race with promise, qualifying in fifth and sixth. However, the race itself told a different story. Verstappen finished 17 seconds behind McLaren's Lando Norris, who clinched third. Reflecting on his race, the four-time World Champion admitted, "Pretty lonely to be honest. I was just following the battle ahead on the screens. We were just too slow."
Verstappen elaborated on the team's struggles across all tire compounds, saying, "On every compound we couldn’t follow, losing a few seconds each stint. It's tough, but that’s how the weekend was. We tried our best." Despite their strategic efforts, he believes improvements are necessary: "We need to work harder and improve the car."
Looking forward to Austria, Verstappen identified key areas for development, particularly in car performance and tire management on high-energy tracks.
On the other side of the garage, Hadjar's race began poorly as he dropped positions on the first lap. Yet, he managed to recover, finishing sixth. Despite this, Hadjar was candid about the need to improve their starts, describing the weekend as a "nightmare" due to recurring issues.
"We need to work on our starts. It’s the same story every race," Hadjar said. "The procedure is too difficult, the window too small." He acknowledged that aside from the start, the team performed well, underlining the frustration of struggling with the basics.
Hadjar concluded, "Everything else was good. The pace in Quali was fine, and race pace felt okay. We just need the start fixed, then we can talk."