Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar Give Red Bull Its Strongest Weekend Yet as Team Boss Says the Car Keeps Getting Better

• Max Verstappen finished third at the Belgian Grand Prix using an older-specification rear wing after a redesigned part caused crashes for him in Austria and Britain
• Isack Hadjar recovered from last on the grid to sixth after taking a power unit penalty, executing a three-stop strategy team boss Laurent Mekies called perfect
• Red Bull principal Laurent Mekies said the car is getting “stronger and stronger” and can now fight for podiums at almost any circuit

Red Bull left the Belgian Grand Prix with its strongest result of the season, Max Verstappen taking third place and Isack Hadjar recovering from the back of the grid to sixth, prompting team principal Laurent Mekies to declare the car is “getting stronger and stronger.”

Verstappen arrived at Spa-Francorchamps with an old-specification rear wing bolted onto his car, a part Red Bull was forced to bring back after an upgraded, rotating version caused crashes for the Dutchman in both Austria and Great Britain.

Watch every race of the 2026 season live on Apple TV

A Podium Built on an Old Part

Reverting to the previous rear wing design did not hold Verstappen back. He claimed a front-row starting spot alongside pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli, helped by a tow from Hadjar in the final segment of qualifying, and used the position to briefly lead the race before dropping to second.

Verstappen became the first of the frontrunners to pit for fresh tyres, a call that narrowly missed the benefit of a short Virtual Safety Car deployed to clear gravel from the track. The timing left him unable to keep pace with the fight for the win between Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, while Lewis Hamilton in fourth was never close enough to apply pressure from behind.

‘I Gave It Everything I Had’

Asked whether he was happy with the result, Verstappen replied: “I think so. I tried everything I could in the race. The first stint wasn’t too bad, second stint probably a little bit more difficult but at the same time, I think Kimi and I were unlucky with the VSC as well.”

“I think for us to be on the podium is very good. I gave it everything I had and I think P3 is good,” he said, later adding: “I hope that we have more weekends like this where it’s just a bit more straightforward to work with the car, which was a lot nicer.”

Hadjar’s Drive From the Back of the Grid

Hadjar’s weekend formed the other half of Red Bull’s strong showing. Committed to a grid penalty for taking new power unit elements, he started from P21 and worked his way through the field on an aggressive three-stop strategy to cross the line sixth, keeping Lando Norris behind him in the process.

“Honestly, that was the best result we could’ve achieved today,” Hadjar said. “There’s not much to talk about really, it was just perfect execution and I’m very happy.”

“It’s frustrating because I feel like if it wasn’t for that engine penalty, we should’ve qualified a bit higher up and then probably fought for a podium,” he added.

Mekies Sees a Team Turning a Corner

Mekies, reflecting on whether Verstappen could have won outright, told Sky Sports F1: “Yeah, unlucky with the VSC, because I think he would have been on merit ahead of Charles, but it is part of racing, there is nothing we can do.”

“First, it is a very strong result for everyone back at [the factory in] Milton Keynes who has worked so hard to get the car stronger and stronger,” Mekies said. “We have made a step forward after Austria and it was a bit more of a difficult weekend in Silverstone, and here we have confirmed that we can fight for podiums pretty much at every circuit.”

“The last bit to get is the most difficult, and [race winner] Kimi [Antonelli] had still a sizeable advantage, but everyone is working very hard to close that gap,” he added.

Mekies also praised Hadjar’s execution. “As always, the team is very, very strong with these sorts of strategic choice,” he said. “It was not an obvious one, and they made it stick once again. I have to say, Isack’s pace was fantastic, the same one as the top three guys and he cuts through the field and managed to keep Lando [Norris] behind. Certainly his best race with us. Every time he goes out in that car he is making a step forward, and it is good to have two very strong cars now.”

Want more F1Chronicle.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for the best F1 news and analysis on the internet.

More F1 Reading

• Why Does Hungary Have A Grand Prix?
• Lewis Hamilton Reveals the 2018 Memory That Made His Heart Sink After Hitting a Ferrari Mechanic in Belgium
• George Russell Blames a Mercedes Power Failure, Not Lewis Hamilton, for His Belgian Grand Prix Title Blow
• Charles Leclerc Believed He Could Win the Belgian Grand Prix Until Kimi Antonelli Passed Him With Ten Laps Left

Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

More articles by Jack Renn →