Isack Hadjar makes 'on fire' prediction as F1 braced for extreme test

Isack Hadjar has predicted that every part of an F1 car will be "on fire" during this weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix.

At 2,285m above sea level, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is the highest circuit F1 visits, with the air density around 25% lower than at sea level. 

As there is less air going into the car, the brakes often overheat in Mexico, with cars also generally running extreme engine cooling louvres to try and force as much of the scant air through the intakes to cool critical areas. 

In a further complication, the turbos are going to have to work harder in 2026 than in 2025 as the MGU-H has been removed from the power units.

The component aided the turbo by allowing it to spool up to faster RPMs, thus eliminating turbo lag and providing instant power response when demanded by the throttle, but with the overhaul for the new engines, the part was eliminated to simplify the designs.

As such, the turbos will be worked harder with less air available, which will increase temperatures inside the engine - as Hadjar spoke of the "extreme" challenges drivers will face.

"I'm just thinking about how extreme it's going to drive these cars," Hadjar pondered to media, including RacingNews365.

"Like last year, already it felt like sliding around a lot with the Monaco rear wing, and now it's kind of the same downforce level throughout the year, and you're going on a track like that. 

"It's going to feel slippery, like hell, so, of course, there are extreme conditions for the car, cooling-wise. 

"It's going to be very extreme, and for the engine as well, for the tyres, for the brakes. I mean, just everything is going to be on fire, even myself in the car probably. 

"So, I'm not thinking about Ferrari or Mercedes. I think, of course, they are going to be very competitive. 

"I'm mostly thinking about how tough on our end the weekend is going to be, but in the last couple of races, the car's been working well on all very different kinds of tracks, so why not here?"

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Hadjar's response to Austin comments

The Frenchman was then also asked about his comments following the United States Grand Prix, in which he claimed Red Bull was incapable of doing the "stupid little things" right following clutch and radio issues at Austin. 

"We'll keep pushing, and it's something we've been working on, and there have definitely been big improvements if you look at the first couple of races of the year, and now we're at a point where it goes a bit up and down," Hadjar said when presented with his comments from Austin.

"We are aware of that, and we need to work with what we have until the end of the year. But the good thing is, the tough thing of going fast on track, I think we're doing it. 

"I think we also got it a bit wrong on the strategy. It's been reviewed; we move forward, but I wouldn't say they are silly things. I would say they are important little things that we don't do."

Turning to the Austin strategy itself, Hadjar then declared that the team wasn't "open-minded enough" to attempt a one-stop.

"We were probably not open-minded enough to the one-stop strategy, and we were very convinced the soft compound was working better, and maybe we thought the deg was higher than it actually was," he said.

"And once you start with this, then we put ourselves in a difficult situation because I had a good pace on the soft; I didn't want to pit too early. At the same time, we don't want Max to lose his race time because he's on another strategy. 

"So, in the end, that was confusing because if in the end, if we were all on a one-stop, everyone would have been happy."

Summing up his response to Austin, Hadjar conceded that there was "stuff I should have kept to myself for sure" about his criticism.