The Red Bull team looks ahead to the Australian GP, the opening race of the new Formula 1 season. Isack Hadjar is on the grid for the first time as a driver for the Austrian team, and therefore his primary goal is to become even more familiar with the RB22. Team principal Laurent Mekies and head strategist Hannah Schmitz – experts at Red Bull – speak mainly about the challenges facing their team this weekend.
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Isack Hadjar is on the eve of his debut as a Red Bull driver. The French-Algerian driver raced in Formula 1 for the first time last year, then in the service of sister team Racing Bulls. The then-rookie made an impression – especially when he took his first podium finish in Zandvoort – and is therefore allowed to get to work as Max Verstappen’s teammate this coming weekend.
“I’m looking forward to going to Melbourne and starting my first weekend as a Red Bull Racing driver,” Hadjar begins in his new team’s official preview. “It’s a special moment for me and something I’ve been working towards for a very long time. The preparation during the winter was intensive, but Albert Park is a great circuit and I feel ready for it. The goal for this weekend is to build confidence with the new rules under race conditions, work closely with the team and get everything out of the car from the very first session so that we can prepare for the rest of the season.”
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‘Biggest challenges in F1’
Team principal Laurent Mekies speaks mainly of a ‘huge challenge’ in Melbourne, when the RB22 – with the engine developed by Red Bull Ford Powertrains, the DM-01 – runs under race conditions for the first time. “Building a competitive power unit from scratch is one of the biggest challenges in our sport. But it is a challenge we have taken on together,” said the French team principal. “This weekend is the biggest step on that journey so far.”
‘Meaningful moment’
Hannah Schmitz, head strategist at Red Bull, also says she is looking forward to the strategic challenges that the new 2026 regulations bring. “The start of a new season always brings a certain degree of uncertainty, and this year there are even more variables to understand, but that’s exactly what makes the strategic side so fascinating for me,” Schmitz reveals. “We have to stay sharp and flexible and be ready to make decisive choices in the first laps, so a big challenge awaits us. It is also very special that the ‘Müller Schmitz’ corner in Albert Park has been named (after Schmitz and Haas engineer Laura Müller, ed.), in recognition of the contribution of women to our sport. I am very proud to be part of that and I can’t wait to see it with my own eyes. It will be a meaningful moment.”
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Read everything about the Australian GP here
