Does Hadjar Have a Red Bull Problem?
He might very well do.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen have always wanted a strong team-mate — but not one who becomes a real threat. Remember what happened with Sergio Perez? As soon as he openly said he was fighting for the World Championship, things started going downhill. Red Bull stopped feeling like home, and it was only a matter of time before he left.
Fast-forward to Baku 2026.
Hadjar had just returned from injury, and it was clear how carefully he was staying away from the walls to minimise the risk of contact while his left wrist was still not fully healed.
The translation is simple: those racing lines make you slower.
Meanwhile, what was Max doing?
Brushing the walls time and time again to use the widest possible lines and carry the highest possible speed.
And as soon as Hadjar started putting him under pressure, Max tried very hard to make it clear that the soft tyres were not working. He made the point during the race — and again in the cool-down room.
So Hadjar needs to be very careful in the coming races.
Going up against Max is exactly what Red Bull should want from its second driver — but if Hadjar starts becoming a genuine threat, he could create a very real problem for himself.
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Have Williams Made a Step Forward?
Since the biggest upgrade was shedding the excessive weight, a lap-time improvement was almost guaranteed. But there were still some important question marks.
Race | Qualifying gap |
|---|---|
Australia | +2.423 s |
Monaco | +1.736 s |
Monza | +1.667 s |
Baku | +2.040 s |
These numbers do not show the complete picture.
The cars were definitely better balanced, and tyre usage was improved. The main takeaway is that the team does not appear to have any correlation concerns — the expected gains were proven on track.
One interesting point revealed by the Baku race data is the much earlier braking points compared with Mercedes. This suggests Williams are still lacking mechanical grip and downforce.
So the main question now is the adaptability of the chassis to different conditions and setup approaches.
Sepang will be a very telling test on that front, with the high-speed corners likely to be particularly important in determining just how much progress Williams have really made.
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WTF Aston Martin?
Aston Martin are still nowhere to be found.
Race data from Baku shows much lower minimum speeds through the corners compared with the leading Mercedes, combined with a significantly lower top speed — more than 30 km/h down on the long straights.
How is it possible that after so many months of constant development, so little progress is visible?
The team’s official position is clear: they have a Honda problem, which will be fixed, while the chassis is good enough.
But are things really that simple?
Most probably not.
We will keep a close eye on the telemetry from the upcoming Sepang race and compare minimum corner speeds, peak corner speeds and top speed on the long straights.
It could hardly get any worse than Baku, so let’s wait and see.
The bigger question is: how much patience will everyone involved have?
Several experts have suggested that if things do not improve significantly within the next couple of races, it would be reasonable to expect serious changes at multiple levels in the team.
Interesting times ahead.
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