Despite the Setback on His Debut, Isack Hadjar Feels ‘More Confident’ Than He Was in Melbourne

Isack Hadjar had a horrendous F1 debut last weekend in Australia, with his race ending even before the lights went out, leaving him distraught and in tears. He didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on it, though. With round two taking place this weekend in Shanghai, Hadjar knew he had to pick himself up and look ahead. And it looks like he has.

Hadjar crashed out of the race in Melbourne during the formation lap after his VCARB02 touched the white paint on the track and hit the barriers. It was the worst possible start to his F1 career he could have hoped for, but thankfully, the majority of the F1 community sympathized with him.

Isack Hadjar crashes out!

Terminal damage on the formation lap for a devastated Hadjar #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/PMmXQCnmA9

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His idol Lewis Hamilton’s dad even came over to give him a hug. Whether that’s the reason or not, Hadjar has regained his confidence. In fact, he admitted to feeling even more assured ahead of the Chinese GP—natural, now that the nerves of his debut have long settled.

“Heading to China, I feel more confident than I did a week ago when I was going to Australia,” the 20-year-old said.

Hadjar also revealed that he didn’t feel out of place with the car in Melbourne either, but suggested that his lack of race experience could have been a factor in his making the error that led to his shunt. In China, Hadjar will have more time to work on bettering himself.

“Of course, I am still lacking race experience so it’s good that this will be a Sprint weekend, as I will have the short race to get a feel for it before the main one,” he added.

Isack Hadjar: “Heading to China, I feel more confident than I did a week ago when I was going to Australia. In Melbourne, I immediately felt comfortable with the car on short runs and in Qualifying, which was one of the targets we had established….”

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The formation lap of the race marred Hadjar’s entire experience last Sunday. But what cannot be discounted is his performance in qualifying. Hadjar ranked higher than all six rookies on the grid, putting his RB in P11, narrowly missing out on Q3.

This weekend, however, Hadjar will need to be at his best throughout. While most in the paddock were understanding of his DNF, Red Bull’s chief advisor Helmut Marko was far less forgiving.

Marko labeled Hadjar’s tears ’embarassing’

It is never fun to see a driver cry, regardless of who one supports. So, when Hadjar broke down, most felt bad for him. Marko, who is in charge of Red Bull’s academy and has been working with Hadjar for years, thought it was embarrassing.

After the race, the Austrian said, Hadjar “put on a tearful show. That was a bit embarrassing.”

The 82-year-old’s ruthlessness toward the French-Algerian driver didn’t reflect well on him, but it was hardly surprising. Marko, whom Christian Horner has called a PR disaster for Red Bull, is notorious for his blunt and often brutal remarks on drivers, regardless of their experience.

Fortunately for Hadjar, there were other senior figures at Red Bull who empathized with him. Horner, for instance, said, “It was quite heart-wrenching to see him so gutted.” 

The Briton also shed light on the positives Hadjar can take from his first-ever Grand Prix weekend. “I think the positives he needs to take out of it when he reflects on the weekend – he actually performed very well in the practices and the qualifying.”