Marko’s ’embarrassing’ Hadjar assessment ‘understandable’ after tears flow
20 Mar 2025 1:00 PM

Isack Hadjar cried after crashing in Melbourne.
Isack Hadjar should have tried to disguise his emotions better following his race-ending crash in Australia, believes Giedo van der Garde.
The French driver was distraught upon crashing out of his debut race in Formula 1, losing control of his Racing Bulls car on the formation lap.
Giedo van der Garde: Mistakes like Isack Hadjar’s shouldn’t happen
The innocuous moment for Hadjar, ending up backward in the barriers out of Turn 1 on the formation lap, meant his debut weekend was over before the race even started and, after all the build-up to the weekend over the winter, the 20-year-old was initially inconsolable about the mistake.
Keeping his helmet on, Hadjar was crying at the side of the track and upon his return to the paddock, where Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony was waiting to greet him and offer some words of comfort.
Hadjar’s emotions were commented on by Red Bull’s Helmut Marko who, when speaking to Austrian broadcaster ORF, said, “That was a bit embarrassing.”
Dutch broadcaster and former F1 racing driver Giedo van der Garde believes Hadjar should have tried to keep his emotions under wraps more, saying he could understand Marko’s position on seeing a Red Bull driver lose his composure in such a manner.
“He’s old school, so he doesn’t like people crying and showing emotions,” Van Der Garde told PlanetF1.com.
“I think it’s also, sometimes, good that you see that, but sometimes it’s also not good to show it.
“He knows that he made a mistake. He knows that he went into the barrier.
“I think, especially when you arrive in Formula 1, it should not happen. I think it was quite a big error.
“In Australia, the white lines are painted, it’s super slippery. It’s not easy.
“But, as a race driver, you should never spin out in the warming-up lap. But it happened.
“Until then, I think he did a super, super good job. No mistakes, no errors, and was super good at qualifying, showed his pace, and he did a phenomenal job.
“It can happen then in the race, it should not happen, in my opinion. But I think then it’s better to go back to the paddock and don’t show yourself anymore, and especially not that you’re crying. So yeah, I understand Helmut a bit.”
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Isack Hadjar: I was embarrassed myself
Having had the chance to brush himself off and regroup for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, Hadjar said he had been thankful for all the messages of support from fans.
“I found it embarrassing myself,” he said in Thursday’s press conference in Shanghai.
“I know Helmut. I had him on the phone a day later, all good. I’ve known him since a few years now. I know how he works.
“And also another point, I think he said that speaking German, he was reinterpreted differently. You don’t know about the body language. I didn’t see the footage, I can’t say much, but apart from that.
“And honestly, 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.”
The mistake, which delayed his debut outing by seven days, is already in the back of his mind, Hadjar explained.
“Monday I already felt quite a lot better,” he said, when asked how quickly he’d got over the disappointment.
“Especially knowing that it’s a back-to-back weekend, so I’ve got to run it back quite early, not having a month to dwell on it.
“So, no, quite quickly, I would say.”
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Giedo van der Garde
Helmut Marko
Isack Hadjar