Isack Hadjar reflects on the Hamilton support in Melbourne: "They were very classy"

Few are the pilots of Formula 1 to crack the armor and reveal their emotions, especially after an unfortunate accident on the formation lap. In tears after going off the track before the start of what was to be his first F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, Isack Hadjar won the sympathy of Formula 1 fans, touched by the distress of a young man whose debut was ruined.

Trapped by tricky conditions, the Frenchman was however quickly able to realize that he was not the only one to have been trapped by the precarious grip of the Australian asphalt after significant rain which had led to the cancellation of the main race of F2 earlier in the day. Jack Doohan, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto also made mistakes, as did the more experienced Iberians, Carlos Sainz et Fernando Alonso.

Enough to help Hadjar quickly release his frustration and disappointment. "I would say that by Monday I was already feeling much better, especially knowing that it's a back-to-back weekend." assures the Racing Bulls driver in Shanghai, where he will compete in his first sprint weekend in F1."So I'll be able to get back to it pretty quickly, without having a month to think about it. I moved on very quickly."

The Parisian was able to benefit from Anthony's support in Australia Hamilton, Lewis's father, came to comfort him on his way back to the paddock. "He said it reminded him of Lewis parking his car at the pit entrance in Shanghai. It was a lovely moment to share with someone like Anthony, who is obviously the father of my idol. So it was quite a special moment and, indeed, Lewis sent me a message later that day. They were very classy." recognizes Isack Hadjar, who had time to take a selfie with his idol during the pilots' parade.

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"Everything is fine" with Helmut Marko, assures Isack Hadjar

The comfort provided by the Hamiltons contrasted somewhat with the severity of Helmut Marko, who judged " embarrassing » Isack Hadjar's tears. The young man, however, quickly defused the situation by assuring that the words of the head of the young pilots' program Red Bull were taken out of context. "To be honest, I found it embarrassing myself." tempers the Formula 2 vice-champion. “I spoke to Helmut on the phone the very next day, and everything is fine. I've known him for a few years now, I'm used to his way of working. And another thing is, I think he was speaking German and his words were interpreted differently. You can't always perceive body language through a simple transcription. I haven't seen the footage, so I can't say too much. But other than that, I saw all the love from the fans and the people, and I didn't expect it. It was really nice.”

Between Helmut Marko and the man he affectionately calls "the little one Cheers », the mood seems to be high ahead of the second meeting of the season, where Racing Bulls can hope to build on their performance in Melbourne. At Albert Park, Yuki tsunoda qualified 5th and could have hoped to finish in this position before a failed strategic choice on the part of the pit wall of the team of Faenza. "I would say that we were, surprisingly, faster than we thought," Isack Hadjar is surprised, determined to take the positives from a first weekend that he had started so well (11th in qualifying, best rookie). “Of course, it’s always difficult to really know where you are in the midfield. You don’t know how much the others are hiding their game or not. But coming into Melbourne, the car felt really good and, from FP1 onwards, I had a very good feeling with it. I felt quite comfortable and I was as close to Yuki as I wanted to be. So, there were a lot of positives in terms of pure performance.”

On a very different circuit in Shanghai, where he has never ridden before even though he claims to know it by heart "thanks to the PS3", Isack Hadjar will have to launch his season and hope that his VCARB02 proves to be as fast as in Melbourne to allow him to stand out.

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