Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was left unimpressed by Isack Hadjar’s behaviour after the French driver burst into tears at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Hadjar’s misery stemmed from his wet-weather crash on the formation lap of the Albert Park race, which happened as early as Turn 2 and meant he was unable to take his very first grand prix start.
Hadjar was inconsolable on his way back to the paddock, finding solace in Anthony Hamilton’s arms, but Marko took a dim view of this emotional display.
The Austrian told radio broadcaster ORF that Hadjar had “put on a tearful show”, then added: “That was a bit embarrassing.”
Marko’s opinion is at odds with Christian Horner’s, with the Red Bull team principal tipping the Racing Bulls driver to bounce back in the future.
“It was quite heart-wrenching to see him so gutted,” Horner said. “His first grand prix.
“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.
“You forget that these guys are just kids, really. Obviously a lot of emotion for him today, but I think when he strips it back, there’s an awful lot of positives that he can take out of the weekend. He’s got many bright days ahead of him.”
Hadjar said he was “embarrassed”, “really sorry for the team” and “just mad that these mistakes can happen”, but insisted he had the mental strength to overcome this hardship.
“I’ve had similar moments, low moments like this,” he added. “This one is tough, but my way to F1 was also quite brutal. I would say I have a strong chin, but this one definitely hits pretty hard.”
Additional reporting by Christian Nimmervoll and Filip Cleeren
