Red Bull issued private team radio instructions ordering Isack Hadjar not to overtake teammate Max Verstappen during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, messages that were not broadcast on the world feed. The directive came after Verstappen passed Hadjar on lap seven, when race engineer Richard Wood told Hadjar to remember that "race time is priority here."
The two drivers started on different tire strategies, with Hadjar on softs and Verstappen on mediums. Hadjar's soft tires proved more durable than expected, allowing him to stay close to his teammate and creating pressure for an overtake opportunity.
On lap 26, Hadjar asked his engineer "Can I go for it or what?" when approaching turn one, receiving the response to "keep it clean." However, on the following lap, Red Bull explicitly told him "we want to hold position now" as Verstappen defended the inside line.