Red Bull Team Orders: Isack Hadjar Questions Overtaking Max Verstappen in Baku

Baku Team Order Raises Questions

Isack Hadjar questioned Red Bull over the team radio during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, asking if he could overtake Max Verstappen again after the team let Verstappen pass him.

Verstappen had quickly closed a large gap to Hadjar on the track, prompting Red Bull to intervene and swap the cars. Verstappen subsequently struggled to find pace, leaving Hadjar directly on his gearbox and asking engineers if he could reclaim the position, gpblog reported. If he can’t get by Lando, do we stay like this? Hadjar asked.

Following silence on the radio, Hadjar prompted them again: Hey! Don’t forget to get back to me. Engineer Richard Wood replied, Yeah, mate, I’m working on it. I’m working on it now. On lap 26, when Hadjar asked, Can I go for it or what? Wood told him to keep it clean, before a subsequent unbroadcast instruction stated, Okay Isack, we want to hold position now, we want to hold position. Hadjar settled in behind Verstappen for the rest of the race as Red Bull finished second and third.

Good Problem for Red Bull

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies described the prospect of imposing team orders as a good problem to have. Mekies stated that the team wished to have more situations similar to the Baku race where Hadjar put heavy pressure on Verstappen during the first half of the grand prix, according to planetf1.com.

Hadjar started the race on soft tires and ran them longer than expected while Verstappen labored on medium compounds, lentedesportiva.com reported. The Frenchman wanted to clear his teammate to chase down McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.

Baku was outstanding from Isack, and he should get the praise for that, because coming back after six weeks and doing what he did in terms of race pace, in terms of how cleverly he raced, was really outstanding.

Mekies defended the pit wall’s intervention by noting that holding the cars in position represented the best collective chance to challenge Piastri and race winner George Russell, lentedesportiva.com reported, explaining to RacingNews365, We looked at all these scenarios, honestly, and we elected to hold the cars in that position. Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve also backed Red Bull’s strategy, stating that Verstappen had a better overall chance of reaching the front on strategy, according to lentedesportiva.com.

Sepang Practice Restarts Action

Formula 1 action shifts immediately to the Sepang International Circuit for the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix, a venue last used by the sport in 2017. Verstappen topped the opening practice session with a lap time of 1:37.520, finishing ahead of Russell and Hadjar, according to lentedesportiva.com.