Isack Hadjar blamed an RBPT‑Ford power‑unit and battery energy failure for his early retirement from the Australian Grand Prix and publicly urged Red Bull to “do better” on reliability and energy management. He said he could not deploy battery energy during the opening laps under Formula 1’s new power‑unit rules, that the power unit overheated and was emitting smoke from the airbox, and that the engine “sounded terrible” before he stopped on lap 11 or 12.

Hadjar described the situation as an energy‑management and simulation shortcoming rather than a standalone, routine technical fault, saying the team had not replicated the scenario during testing and calling on Milton Keynes to address both technical and strategic gaps under the new rules.

The failure turned a promising weekend into disappointment for the 21‑year‑old French driver, who had qualified third and launched from P3 to briefly challenge polesitter George Russell. After losing deployable battery power he was overtaken by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap, later passed by Kimi Antonelli while holding off rookie Arvid Lindblad, and ultimately walked back to the Red Bull garage when the car stopped — visibly frustrated. With Max Verstappen out of the race, Hadjar had been Red Bull’s best hope to salvage points; he said he made “zero” mistakes, pointed to his pace as proof he can compete at the front, and warned the team that better energy management and power‑unit reliability are needed if he is to turn strong qualifying into podiums. Some reports described the weekend as his first race for Red Bull, while others placed it in his sophomore season.

Sources