“Our car is not the easiest to drive”: Red Bull’s assessment after difficult qualifying in Canada

Verstappen and Hadjar running side by side on-track | Credit: Formula One

Qualifying for the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix ended with the two Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar set to line up in sixth and seventh for Sunday’s race. 

For the former four-time world champion, his lowest grid start in Canada since 2019 was yet another difficult result on what has been a tough start to the season and the new regulatory era. Speaking about some of his difficulties after the session, the Dutch driver was clear that “I have no idea what’s going on” and how best to guide the team in their development.

He further added that “I also didn’t like the set-up change” which the team implemented after the sprint. In the past, particularly during the course of the 2025 season where Red Bull faced some performance issues, their quick turnarounds in set-up to help unlock performance, the team were able to bring themselves back into contention. However, on this occasion and so far in 2026, this doesn’t seem to be the case as Verstappen noted that “it’s just confusing”. 

Discussing the possibility of rain ahead of Sunday’s race and whether it would be enough to bring the team back into contention for a decent haul of points, Verstappen remained clear that “it’s going to be chaos regardless”.

Hadjar was forced to retire from the sprint due to an engine issue | Credit: Formula One

Verstappen’s new teammate, Isack Hadjar, faced some similar issues during qualifying. Although the driver who is only in his sophomore season of Formula One qualified marginally behind his teammate after a much bigger gap in Miami, he shared that “I’m very upset” for “not delivering”.

The French driver, who was the fastest driver on track during Q2, was unable to replicate his considerable pace in the final part of qualifying to move further up the grid. When asked about the difference in pace, he said that he was “not sharp enough in the final laps”.

Difficult weekends have unfortunately become a bit of a norm for Red Bull Racing as they have struggled to adapt to the new regulations as quickly as the other front-running teams. When asked about the learning from the car at the end of today’s qualifying session, Hadjar responded that “today wasn’t helpful at all”.   

Ultimately, Hadjar commented a sentiment that has been clear to see for many up and down the paddock, especially in recent years, that “our car is not the easiest to drive”. While the team remain firmly in the front-runners, albeit at the back of the pack, it seems that the Milton Keynes based team will have to unlock some more performance before they can hope to reach the top step of the podium once again.