Hadjar reveals Monaco shunt caught him "off guard"

Isack Hadjar took a hard shunt in the principality with the Frenchman describing the incident as catching him "off-guard".

A hard crash for Hadjar during FP1. Credits: Formula One

The cars emerged out into the beautiful Monaco sunshine for the first of three practice sessions around the tricky streets of Monaco, with Charles Leclerc quickly emerging as a top candidate for pole. The Red Bulls also had the spotlight on their garage for two things: how surprisingly quick the car was, and Hadjar bringing out the session's red flag.

The Frenchman was having issues with a loose rear around the Swimming Pool chicane - an area which several struggled with - but unlike his rivals, his snap of oversteer sent him spinning nose-first into the barriers. The incident caused his RB22 wheel to come off and severely damaged his front wing, forcing the Red Bull garage to quickly fix his car in time for the second practice session of the day.

Following the incident, Hadjar explained the accident from his point of view, pointing out how he was caught 'off guard';

“It was going pretty okay.”

“Actually, I think I was on good laps and gaining confidence, and it's when I gained that confidence I had that moment," he added.

“It really caught me off guard – I didn’t expect to lose it here. Also, it’s not a crash you often see here, losing the rear like that, so I was surprised. Definitely a tough one."

“I tried to build the confidence back again [in FP2]. I took no risks and lap by lap, just explored a bit more. It took me a minute to get there, and there’s still a lot to find, but definitely felt decent towards the end, so let’s see overnight what we can cook for tomorrow.”

Despite the incident, the Red Bulls seemed firmly in the mix for pole position with teammate Max Verstappen finishing behind the Ferraris by one-tenth in FP2. Both the Ferraris and Red Bulls are fighting for their first victory of the 2026 season, with the former the favourites in Monaco.

When asked about his hopes for the weekend Hadjar said:

“Definitely looking to fight some of the Mercedes,”

“I think the top three are very strong and on a very good momentum, so we need a very strong FP3 to get things working and close the gap.

“Hopefully we make the most of it and go into Quali and keep ramping up.” he concluded.