Isack Hadjar is unbothered by the reaction of Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko to his crash in Melbourne last week.
The Racing Bulls driver failed to start his first race for the team after losing control of his car in treacherous conditions during the formation lap at Albert Park. A tearful Hadjar was consoled by Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony, though Marko called the scene “embarrassing” when he spoke to an Austrian television channel later.Hadjar made light of Marko’s reaction when it was put to him in today’s FIA press conference ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. “I found it embarrassing, myself,” he admitted.
“Helmut, I had him on the phone a day later and it’s all good. I’ve known him [for] a few years now, I know how he works.
“Also, another point, I think [when he] said that he was speaking German, it was reinterpreted differently. You don’t know about the body language, I didn’t see the footage. So I can’t say much.”
The 20-year-old said he was grateful for the support he received after the incident. “I’ve seen all the love from the fans and the people, I did not expect that at all when I binned it in the wall, so that was nice.”
He rebounded “quite quickly” from the emotional low-point. “I would say on Monday already I felt quite a lot better,” said Hadjar ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
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“Especially knowing that it’s a back-to-back weekend so I’ve got to run [again] quite early, not having a month to dwell on it.”
Lewis Hamilton also offered his commiserations, said Hadjar. His father Anthony “said it reminded him of Lewis parking the car at pit entry in Shanghai,” in his first season in 2007, when he narrowly failed to win the world championship.
“It was a nice moment, sharing time with someone like Anthony – as well, obviously, the dad of my idol. So that was quite a special moment. And indeed, Lewis sent me a message later that day. Really classy guys.”
Hadjar’s team mate Yuki Tsunoda pulled off a surprise result by qualifying fifth and was in the hunt for points before pitting too late to change tyres when the conditions changed. However Hadjar drew encouragement from the team’s performance in the first round following pre-season testing in Bahrain.
“I would say that we were surprisingly faster than we thought, looking at Bahrain,” he said. “Of course, in Bahrain, it’s hard to really understand where you’re at in the midfield. You don’t know how much everyone is hiding or not.
“But going into Melbourne the car was really good and straight from FP1 I think I had a really, really nice feeling with the car. I was quite comfortable and I was as close [to] Yuki as I wanted to be, so I think there were a lot of positives in terms of pure performance.
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2025 Chinese Grand Prix
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- FIA’s new rear wing test ‘directed at other teams, not McLaren’ – Norris
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RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
20th March 2025, 6:45
I know I’m in the minority on this, but I agree with Marko. The mistake was humiliating but these things happen; following it up whimpering for 15 minutes through the paddock, being consoled in public was embarrassing. I’ve no problem with emotion, but he should have controlled himself until in private.
One of the key attributes for a sportsman is mental compartmentalisation. My main worry for Hadjar is that he is too emotional. It’s the same criticism that I have of Tsunoda – an obvious factor in why he is perennially overlooked for the Red Bull seat.
As recently as last season, we’ve watched Norris capitulate under the mental pressure of poor starts. Resilience is a skill, a vital attribute for serial winners. During my time watching F1, Hamilton is the only driver I’ve seen who didn’t display a ruthless, borderline nasty streak when winning his championship. Even guys like Damon and Nico developed, or at least revealed, an intensity they hadn’t shown to that point.
For Hadjar, I’m glad to see he’s recognised and owned this. He’s got a long way to go to become docile (the deflated ball as JYS puts it) in the car, but this is the right first step.
David BR (@david-br)
20th March 2025, 9:08
@rbalonso Disagree 100%. Hadjar broke down because he broke down, obviously a huge well of emotion and disappointment with himself. But the fact he let that out, in my view, means precisely that he’ll learn, move on and build that resilience you’re talking about. What’s counterproductive is shaming or bottling up that emotion and it seeping out in other, toxic ways – taking out that disappointment on other people in private or away from the public gaze for example. There a few examples not so far from the Red Bull paddock along those lines.
Craig
20th March 2025, 9:26
Agreed.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th March 2025, 7:17
Only retroactively.
BasCB (@bascb)
20th March 2025, 8:24
I mean, surely Hadjar has little option but to agree with Marko if he doesn’t want to lose his drive, right.
S Arkazam
20th March 2025, 8:59
Surprisingly people are not often embarrassed about future actions. :P
baasbas
20th March 2025, 7:50
Hadjar said what nobody on these forums said: haven’t seen the footage so can’t comment
floodo1 (@floodo1)
20th March 2025, 8:01
LOL so many commenters have egg on their face now
S Arkazam
20th March 2025, 9:02
That would be embarrassing!
Though, I haven’t seen the footage yet.
Patrick (@anunaki)
20th March 2025, 8:56
Well, a cinic could argue Hamilton’s father was eager to console him in front of the cameras and that made it emberrassing. And he might not be wrong.
Patrick (@anunaki)
20th March 2025, 8:59
embarrassing
David BR (@david-br)
20th March 2025, 9:11
@anunaki One of the dumbest comments of the day, Hadjar is no threat too Hamilton let alone his dad.
Patrick (@anunaki)
20th March 2025, 9:58
That’s not at all the point in my comment.
It’s assuming Hamilton Sr likes the attention.
MichaelN
20th March 2025, 9:01
Laughing it off and dodging the comment, and then emphasising the gratitude and respect he has for the Hamiltons. Says it all. The dynamics here are obvious.
Anyway, time for Hadjar to do better in China. He was close in qualifying, so they speed is there. A full race will give his season the restart it needs.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
20th March 2025, 9:13
For him to feel embarrassed about it, really, is completely understandable and not at all surprising. But that doesn’t change the fact that criticising someone for being upset in those circumstances is toxic and potentially harmful.
What I find a bit weird is when you contrast this with the reaction to the controversy around swearing. The argument in that case appears to be that they’re human beings, they have strong emotions and we want to see the drivers expressing those emotions without any filters. That it’s unreasonable to ask the drivers to exercise a little self-governance in that circumstance. Yet many of the same people making that argument appear to also be saying that you should never see a driver getting upset and shedding tears.
If your personal belief is that men should express emotions, but that certain emotions are effectively off limits and should never be shown in public, no matter the context, then I find that to be quite a toxic attitude. There are no end of studies that demonstrate conclusively that continually repressing certain emotions rather than processing them, is extremely unhealthy and damaging to mental wellbeing.
Men get upset, men cry. It’s ok. What’s important to understand is that emotions aren’t really positive or negative – what’s important is whether they’re appropriate to the context and how you process and deal with those emotions. There is a time for stoic compartmentalisation, and a time for expression and reflection. Finding the balance is a critical part of emotional maturity and good mental health.