Hadjar Crash Ends Red Bull’s Day

Rain during Tuesday morning of the Barcelona pre-season test forced Mercedes, Alpine, Audi and Cadillac to cancel planned running; Haas remained offline to analyze Day 1 data, and Aston Martin confirmed it would miss both Tuesday and Wednesday, expecting to run only the final two days. McLaren had planned to start on Tuesday alongside Ferrari, but only Ferrari and Red Bull logged laps in the early session. Red Bull had topped Monday after strong running from Isack Hadjar; both Hadjar and Max Verstappen logged laps across the two opening days, though accounts differ on the exact sequence of driver changes. Verstappen briefly beached the RB22 at Turn 5 on an outlap, triggering a red flag of just over five minutes; he recovered and running resumed.

Late on Tuesday, Hadjar crashed the RB22 into the tire barriers at the final corner with roughly 30 minutes remaining, ending Red Bull’s second day early. The car skipped across the gravel and came to rest backwards against the barriers; eyewitnesses reported likely rear-wing damage. Initial accounts did not determine whether the loss of control stemmed from driver error or a mechanical issue, and team officials began assessing spare-part availability to see if any further running could be achieved before the 6 p.m. local checkered flag. Red Bull can choose when to use its remaining permitted test day before Friday to fly spares in from the U.K.; that decision will determine how much of its planned program it can recover ahead of the season.