After the double podium in Baku – a first for Red Bull since China 2024 – a considerable challenge awaits in Malaysia if the team is to repeat that result. Not only can Mercedes count on its long-awaited upgrade for the W17, but Isack Hadjar will also have to serve a grid penalty.
The Frenchman revealed it at Sepang on Thursday, when Motorsport.com asked him whether the Baku race weekend had indeed been Red Bull’s best chance of a victory, or whether the upgrade package gives him confidence that there will be more opportunities before the end of the year.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of both,” he said. “I think Baku is definitely a track that would have suited our car anyway. The upgrade played its part, but I think going to a track with a more traditional layout, let’s say, is going to give us a better idea of where we really stand.
“I would expect us to be less competitive here due to the layout. But if we still manage to fight for a podium this weekend, that would be good. But it’s going to be difficult for me, you know. I should be taking a five-place penalty.”
When asked by Motorsport.com, Red Bull did not yet want to confirm which power unit component will be replaced for the race at the Sepang International Circuit.
A first breach of the limit results in a 10-place grid penalty, after which each subsequent breach results in a five-place grid drop. Hadjar has already exceeded the limit with every PU component this season, meaning any change will result in a five-place penalty.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Liam Fabre
It presents Hadjar with a challenge before the race weekend has even begun, although he adds that the circuit near Kuala Lumpur offers plenty of overtaking opportunities.
“But even with the penalty, I believe this is a track that if you have the race pace, you can go up. And if we can’t, then it means we’re not fast enough. So, that’s it,” he said.
On a personal level, Hadjar reveals that he can go fully on the attack again in Malaysia. In Baku, he deliberately built up the weekend cautiously on his return from the wrist injury, but his approach at Sepang will be different.
“The layout makes it that you can go flat-out straight away,” said the Frenchman. “It’s an open track, there’s no walls really. So you go out to push it a lot earlier.
“In Baku, when you go over the limit, you are in the wall. I didn’t really fancy that, so I was taking it step by step. But this weekend is completely normal to me, so I need to take risks straight away.”
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