Hadjar snatches maiden Red Bull podium in Monaco despite engine gremlins and radio meltdowns

Isack Hadjar secured his maiden Red Bull podium at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, finishing third after surviving 78 laps of mechanical trouble that left the 21-year-old Frenchman visibly frustrated over team radio. The result was later confirmed after stewards cleared Red Bull of a red flag investigation.

Hadjar’s race was plagued by power unit and driveability problems from early on. On lap 20, with Mercedes’ George Russell pressing him hard, Hadjar reported a loss of power and engine braking before snapping at his engineers: “Well look faster!” and warning that “something is going to explode.” The issues worsened after he ran through the chicane run-off area, compounding an already difficult afternoon.

As he crossed the line, the relief was audible: “Oh my god, why does it have to be so difficult!”

Reflecting on the race afterwards, Hadjar was candid about the scale of the challenge. “Honestly, I also faced more issues than people can think during the race. It was not nice out there,” he said. “There were a few engine issues, driveability issues, and the car was very hard to drive. The first start was very good. The second one I had no power. Final stint, I was struggling with the engine as well. But the team is very reactive on switches to get me back to it. And honestly, yeah, very draining.”

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, who worked closely with Hadjar during his time at Racing Bulls, defended his driver’s radio outbursts without hesitation. “We battled a number of issues on this car from quite early in the race. We had a lot less engine power and as you may imagine, that has a lot of consequences on the energy management and so on. So, he had a very, very hard time,” Mekies said.

On the radio exchanges specifically, Mekies explained that Hadjar’s frustration stemmed from the difficulty of diagnosing a problem from inside the cockpit. “It’s always very difficult for the driver in the car to understand what’s going on. In that case he could not know exactly how much engine power he was losing. The implication of that loss of ICE power on the rest of the management is massive for the way these power units are working.”

The result marks a significant milestone for Hadjar in his debut season with Red Bull’s senior team, and underlines his ability to manage a compromised car around one of the calendar’s most unforgiving circuits.