Isack Hadjar and Carlos Sainz are being looked into after the Azerbaijani Grand Prix race.
Isack Hadjar and Carlos Sainz are both under investigation after the Azerbaijani Grand Prix for possible mistakes during practice starts.
Hadjar, who joined Red Bull’s main team in early 2026, recently returned to racing after missing three races because of a wrist injury. Reports say both he and Sainz are being looked at for breaking rules while doing practice starts on their way to the grid. On top of that, Sainz got a five-place grid penalty for not following the rules during Qualifying.
Race officials have called both drivers in for questions once the race wraps up, about not following instructions during practice starts. The notes from race control said that Sainz didn’t follow the race director’s orders and the same goes for Hadjar, who will be investigated after the race.
Regarding Sainz’s grid penalty in Qualifying, the FIA stewards explained that Sainz thought he was supposed to slow down across the whole yellow-flag area and didn’t think he needed to reduce speed on the straight part. He said he was showing his reaction when approaching and leaving Turn 3 and believed the yellow flags might be lifted since the hazard was no longer there.
However, the stewards didn’t agree. They said when there are consecutive yellow-flag zones, a driver must slow down properly in each one. Sainz didn’t reduce speed enough in one zone, so the penalty for that is a drop of five grid spots.
Sainz, who is 32, could face more penalties after the race for the practice start issues. Any decisions will be made after looking carefully at all the facts and evidence about both drivers.
Right now, with the race going on, the grid positions for Hadjar and Sainz could still change once everything is reviewed.
Hadjar qualified ninth for the race, reaching Q3 for the first time this season. Sainz started in 14th after his penalty, even though he originally qualified ninth, and Franco Colapinto took the ninth spot.