Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad face difficult recovery drives at the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia after both Red Bull-owned teams exceeded Formula 1 power unit component limits.

Hadjar will receive a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race at Sepang, while Racing Bulls driver Lindblad faces a back-of-the-grid start after taking several new power unit components.

The penalties arrive after both drivers produced strong results in Azerbaijan, where Hadjar finished third for Red Bull and Lindblad took seventh.

Hadjar Takes Five-Place Bahrain GP Grid Penalty

Hadjar confirmed ahead of the weekend that he expects to drop five places on the starting grid.

Red Bull had not confirmed which specific power unit component would be replaced, but Hadjar has already exceeded his permitted allocation across the relevant components this season. Further changes therefore result in a five-place penalty.

The setback comes immediately after an impressive return in Baku, where Hadjar qualified fourth and finished third after missing three races with a wrist injury.

He expects Red Bull to face a tougher challenge at Sepang than it did around the streets of Azerbaijan.

“Yeah, it’s a bit of both,” he said. “I think Baku is definitely a track that would have suited our car anyway. The upgrade played its part, but I think going to a track with a more traditional layout, let’s say, is going to give us a better idea of where we really stand.

“I would expect us to be less competitive here due to the layout. But if we still manage to fight for a podium this weekend, that would be good. But it’s going to be difficult for me, you know. I should be taking a five-place penalty.”

Hadjar believes Sepang offers enough overtaking opportunities to recover during the race if Red Bull has competitive pace.

“But even with the penalty, I believe this is a track that if you have the race pace, you can go up. And if we can’t, then it means we’re not fast enough. So, that’s it,” he said.

Unlike Baku, Hadjar also plans to push immediately during practice after taking a cautious approach on his return from injury.

“The layout makes it that you can go flat-out straight away,” said the Frenchman. “It’s an open track, there’s no walls really. So you go out to push it a lot earlier.

“In Baku, when you go over the limit, you are in the wall. I didn’t really fancy that, so I was taking it step by step. But this weekend is completely normal to me, so I need to take risks straight away.”

Lindblad Set for Back-of-Grid Start At Bahrain GP

Lindblad faces an even bigger penalty after Racing Bulls elected to introduce a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The teenager had already reached the permitted limit of four for each component in Azerbaijan. Taking additional components at Sepang means he is set to start from the back of the grid.

The decision follows an impressive seventh-place finish in Baku, where Lindblad recovered from contact with team-mate Liam Lawson during a restart and eventually beat Esteban Ocon to seventh by only 0.03s.

Lindblad accepted he should have handled the Lawson incident differently and said the matter had been discussed within Racing Bulls.
“We discussed it internally, what happened, and I know what I’d do differently in future.

“I’ve apologised already and yeah, it’s done now. I know what I’ll do differently in future. We’ve discussed it, so just looking forward to Malaysia now.”

Both Hadjar and Lindblad therefore enter the Sepang weekend knowing their qualifying positions will not translate directly onto the starting grid.

Hadjar faces a five-place drop but believes overtaking opportunities should give him a chance to recover. Lindblad faces the tougher task from the back as Racing Bulls takes the power unit penalty at a circuit where it hopes he will have opportunities to fight through the field.

Franco Colapinto Hit With 15-Place Bahrain GP Grid Penalty

Franco Colapinto will also face a major grid penalty at Sepang, with the Alpine driver set to drop a total of 15 places for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Colapinto was already carrying a five-place penalty from Azerbaijan after causing the restart collision involving team-mate Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Alpine has now added a fifth Mercedes internal combustion engine to his pool, exceeding the permitted allocation of four and triggering a further 10-place penalty.

With Colapinto already facing a grid drop, Alpine elected to introduce the fresh V6 at Sepang to limit the impact across future races. His combined 15-place penalty is likely to leave him starting from the back row.

The timing is significant for Alpine as it battles Racing Bulls for fifth in the constructors’ championship. Alpine left Baku 15 points behind its rival after Colapinto’s accident prevented the team from taking advantage of a potential points opportunity.

Team-mate Pierre Gasly is also expected to require another power unit during the coming races, although Alpine has yet to decide when to make the change.