A Near-Certain P6 Ruined in the Final Laps

With solid pace and clean execution, Hadjar was on course to equal his second-best F1 result and score valuable points for Racing Bulls. He was forced to retire in the dying moments, officially classified 18th.

The Real Cause: A Failed Wheel Deflector

Post-race analysis showed that the problem did not come from a tyre defect or external debris but from Hadjar’s own machinery. The front-left wheel deflector – a small aero component mounted ahead of the tyre – began oscillating badly around ten laps from the end, before eventually breaking loose, sliding under the floor and tearing through the left-front tyre structure.

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane later confirmed that the failed deflector was the root cause, and suggested that aggressive kerb riding at Losail likely contributed to the fatigue of the part, though he admitted such a failure “shouldn’t have happened” on a modern F1 car.

« Plastic Car »: Hadjar’s Furious Reaction

Hadjar did not hide his anger after climbing out of the car. He explained that he had warned the team on the radio that the endplate was “going crazy” down the straights but was told they believed it would hold.

Hadjar likened his Racing Bulls to a toy or “plastic” car, telling TV crews that he “knew it was going to break” and felt especially frustrated because the failure cost him a deserved result after a clean race.

Stewards’ View and Implications

The stewards reviewed onboard footage and team-radio exchanges to assess whether Racing Bulls had breached their duty to withdraw an unsafe car. They concluded that the situation did not meet the specific criteria for intervention – there was no clear loss of control or debris field prior to failure – and therefore took no further action.

For Racing Bulls, the failure turned a double-points opportunity into a single-score finish, with teammate Liam Lawson inheriting the main result. The episode has intensified focus on the team’s reliability and aero-component robustness on aggressive circuits like Losail.