Hadjar stunned by Verstappen’s steering sensitivity

Isack Hadjar says he never even felt the steering problem that troubled Max Verstappen so badly at the start of 2026.

Red Bull Racing introduced a revised steering-column system in Miami after Verstappen repeatedly complained about poor front-end feeling during the opening races in Australia, China and Japan.

The upgrade appeared to transform the RB22, with Verstappen immediately returning to the front fight.

However, Hadjar endured a disastrous Miami weekend, crashing in the race after struggling badly for pace - fuelling speculation the latest developments suited Verstappen far more than the sister car.

Now the French youngster has revealed he never actually used the revised steering setup at all.

"No, I didn’t have the same problem," Hadjar admitted in Montreal.

"We didn’t use the same new steering column for Miami."

The 21-year-old said the situation only increased his admiration for Verstappen’s extraordinary technical sensitivity.

"Honestly, I didn’t feel what he felt," Hadjar said. "So yes, that also shows how sensitive he is to that kind of thing and how well he knows what he wants himself."

"That’s very impressive."

Hadjar was particularly frustrated because he believes strong points were possible before his Miami crash.

"It was clear that, if I didn’t do anything crazy, the points were in it," he said. "I really wanted to go full for that race."

"I couldn’t do that because I made a mistake, so I was very upset about that."

Hadjar admits both he and the team now need to improve. "Both the team and myself have to do better than last weekend, because we were short of pace," Hadjar said.

"If we improve that, I just want to fight along with the other guys."

Still, Hadjar praised Red Bull’s recent development progress after a difficult start to the season.

"At the beginning of the year, it was no secret that some teams had started their project earlier than we did," he said.

"But the upgrade certainly surprised me and a lot of people in the paddock. I think that was absolutely impressive on our part."

"But we expect even more in the future."