Isack Hadjar notes receiving text from Lewis Hamilton after F1 Australian GP and also clarifies talks with Helmut Marko, as the Brit shares his thoughts and Max Verstappen speaks on Gabriel Bortoleto.
Visa Cash App RB’s Hadjar was one driver making headlines during the F1 Australian GP. His formation lap crash caught everyone’s eyeballs especially due to his emotional outburst. He was consoled by Anthony Hamilton on world feed and even Stefano Domenicali later on.
Most sided with him but Red Bull consultant Marko reckoned the outburst to be embarrassing. The Austrian, though, clarified his stance, with the Frenchman too playing down his reaction. Hadjar also revealed that he got a text from Ferrari’s Hamilton after the weekend.
“I mean, I found it embarrassing myself,” said Hadjar. “And Helmut—I had him on the phone a day later, and it’s all good. I mean, I’ve known him for a few years now. I know how he works. Also, I think he said that in German and it was reinterpreted differently. You don’t always get the body language. I didn’t see the footage, so I can’t say much.
“But apart from that, yeah, I have to say the love from the fans and people, I did not expect that at all when I binned it in the wall. That was nice, yeah. He (Anthoney) said it reminded him of Lewis parking the car at pit entry in Shanghai. 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. As for me, I would say by Monday, I already felt quite a lot better, especially knowing that it’s a back-to-back weekend. So I get to run it back quite early, not having a month to dwell on it. So, quite quickly, I’d say,” summed up Hadjar, who sees the weekend in China as his launch pad to the 2025 F1 season.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was asked his side of things of what transpired. The Brit recalled his low moments and noted the parade lap meet between the two. “I’d spoken to him just before on the drivers’ parade, he’s such a nice lad,” the Ferrari driver said. “I just said to him, make sure you enjoyed the race and not to put too much pressure on yourself.
“And I said, ‘Take a picture, because it’s my first race with Ferrari and your first race,’ so he took a selfie. Then obviously he had the off on the formation lap, which I knew would be tough. I’ve been there, I know how painful it is. In those moments, you feel like you’re not only disappointed in yourself but you feel all eyes are on you, and everyone is judging you.
“I just wanted to make sure…it’s important I think in those moments you have people you can talk to. So that was really what it was about,” summed up Hamilton. While the two enjoy their idol-fan moment, there is another in the paddock with Sauber’s Bortoleto looking up to Red Bull’s Verstappen, apart from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who is the mentor/manager of the Brazilian.
Bortoleto is often seen hanging around Verstappen in the short time they have been together. The Dutchman is fine to have anyone ask him advice, even though in his time, he didn’t do so as much. The Red Bull driver recalled giving him the go to use intermediate tyres to start the Australian GP.
“I speak to Gabi, quite a lot,” said Verstappen to media. “He’s a very nice guy. He’s a great driver, I really like his approach. He’s a hard worker and very passionate about Formula 1. When he asked me questions, I’m not someone that hides stuff on the grid [in Australia]. After the national anthem he came to me and said: ‘Max, what are you going to do?’ I said put inters.
“He said: Really? Really?!’ I said: ‘Yeah, put inters. It’s fine. And if you’re not really sure, just ask the team maybe to do something with the tyres, but inters.’ He’s like ‘okay’. It’s normal. I mean, it’s your first race, it’s always very stressful and quite intimidating most difficult conditions to start in, yeah, if he asks questions, I’ll always answer them.
“For me, it was different times, I think also with all the things around like platforms like we use with sim racing and stuff, it has grown a lot over the years. I think that helps a lot as well, I mean pretty there were drivers around, I just didn’t ask at that time because I just didn’t get to seem or whatever,” summed up Verstappen.
Here’s Isack Hadjar and co after Australian GP
Here’s Ferrari on missed opportunity in Australian GP
Here’s Toto Wolff on keeping an eye on Lewis Hamilton
Here’s Gabriel Bortoleto on his crash
Here’s Red Bull, McLaren pair on Australian GP
