Red Bull Racing driver Isack Hadjar has openly urged his team to completely redesign the car's clutch system after technical issues severely hampered his performance at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. Starting from third place on the second row following a strong qualifying session where he finished mere fractions behind his teammate, the French driver immediately dropped positions on the opening lap due to a poor getaway.
That difficult start was capitalized on by his rivals behind him, as both Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton alongside McLaren's Lando Norris successfully overtook him. Losing crucial ground early in the race forced Hadjar to settle for a disappointing sixth-place finish, falling well short of the podium fight he had targeted after a promising Saturday performance.
Speaking to the media after reviewing a replay of his start, Hadjar insisted that he executed all standard procedures perfectly without any driver error. He pointed out that the clutch experienced an over-delivery of power completely outside of his control, a recurring issue that has proven increasingly frustrating throughout the ongoing 2026 Formula 1 championship season.
The struggles for the young driver did not end at the start, as he also suffered from poor radio coverage preventing him to clearly hear instructions from his engineering crew in the pit lane. Furthermore, he rejoined the track using the wrong engine map following his routine pit stop, which cost him roughly a second per lap while running on the hard compound tires.
Addressing whether the team had provided a sufficient explanation for the recurring faults, Hadjar made his demands clear regarding the durability of the hardware. According to reports from Motorsport.com, he stressed that the current clutch is simply too fragile when dealing with operating temperatures and requires an immediate engineering redesign.
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