‘Better than when I left it!’ – Hadjar encouraged by first day back in his upgraded Red Bull at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Isack Hadjar smiled that his Red Bull car felt “better than when I left it” at July’s Hungarian Grand Prix after returning to action during Thursday practice around the Baku City Circuit.

Hadjar missed events at Zandvoort, Monza and the all-new Madring track over the last month, having injured his wrist while training in the summer break.

However, he was finally able to get back into the cockpit of his RB22 in Azerbaijan, where Red Bull have introduced a host of updates – including to the floor body, diffuser and sidepods.

While he lost valuable track time in FP1 due to a gearbox issue, Hadjar got a healthy number of laps under his belt through FP2, which he finished in ninth position, 1.5 seconds away from pace-setter George Russell, and seven tenths behind team mate Max Verstappen.

Summing up his return to action, and how he felt out on track, Hadjar said: “It feels good. It’s been a minute, so it was good. I had a good feeling. Not many laps, unfortunately, today, but this will come. I’m not really worried too much about the pace.

“The feeling… With this new package, we know the characteristic is the same, of the car, but it feels nice. It’s better than when I left it in Budapest, so I’m pretty happy!”

He continued: “I think the car in FP1 was pretty strong. I had like three laps, so I wanted a few changes on the car. They didn’t do what I wanted them to do, so at least we have one clear lead. I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Also speaking to the media post-session, Red Bull Technical Director Pierre Wache offered some more insight into the team’s upgrades and how the pecking order appears to be shaping up this weekend.

“It was quite positive,” Wache said of Red Bull’s day. “Both cars had the upgrade, and that is quite a good sign for us, to be able to produce and to deliver on track this upgrade. From the first analysis in FP1, and I’m waiting on the FP2 one, we more or less delivered what we expected.”

Wache added: “Clearly, Mercedes are in front of us after today, especially on the short runs. I think we have to look at the long runs also, but they look quicker.

“McLaren looks a little bit quicker, or similar to us. After Ferrari it’s difficult to say, because so many people stopped their [soft tyre] lap before the end of the straight, and how you use the energy could be misleading completely the overall lap time.”

Hadjar heads into Friday and Saturday’s running boosted by the news that he will be continuing as Verstappen’s team mate for the 2027 season – Red Bull having activated their option to retain him.