Tearful F1 rookie primed for success

One of the most harrowing sights of the Australian Grand Prix last month came in the form of a tearful Frenchman who had just suffered the indignity of crashing out of his first ever F1 race.

What added fuel to the already embarrassing fire for Frenchman Isack Hadjar was the fact that his accident came on the parade lap, the lap that sees the cars warm up before the race even begins.

And while the sight of Hadjar crying through his helmet was heartbreaking for all to see, the 20-year-old isn’t one to let much get in his way as he sets his sights on his first F1 season.

Taling on the Thursday before the race, Hadjar said getting his opportunity to race in the top flight of motorsport was a dream come true and he was looking forward to showcasing his skills against the best drivers in the world.

“It’s mad for me,” he said. “I will realise tomorrow (in free practice on the Friday of the weekend) now it’s real.

“Since January I’ve been non-stop training and spending time on with the engineers team building and we had a really nice test in Bahrain.

“I’m as ready as I can be.”

Hadjar’s Racing Bulls team have shown strong pace early on in the season, fighting closely with Williams for the title of ‘best of the rest’ behind the big four of McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes.

With such a tight battle in that part of the field, Hadjar admitted that it will be a tricky task to maintain the pace shown already, but is hopeful that he can make strong progression in the meantime throughout the season.

“It’s tight in the middle,” he admitted. “Every tenth is going to make a huge difference.”

“As a rookie, it’s obviously hard to maximize the car every time you out on track, because you’re learning a lot on the job.

“But the target is to score as many points as I can.”

Heading into this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Hadjar will find himself alongside a new teammate in Kiwi Liam Lawson, having been demoted to the junior team after his poor start to the season.

Hadjar’s initial teammate was new Red Bull signing Yuki Tsunoda, and heading into his first race last month in Australia, Hadjar said the experience Tsunoda brings to the Red Bull family was important and something he could lean on.

“If I don’t come to him then he’s not going to sit down and give me advice,” he said. “But I use him obviously and I use his experience because he’s really fast.

“Now he’s becoming really experienced and being in the same team, he knows how it works.

“So yeah I’m definitely going to use him a lot to progress and prepare myself.”

Outside of his tearful exit from the Australian Grand Prix, Hadjar went viral after the special F1 launch even in London in February as his facial expression at seeing the new livery on his Racing Bulls car was spread right across social media.

He admitted it was fun to be a meme so early on in his F1 career.

“My reaction to it was a spontaneous face because I didn’t see it (the livery) beforehand,” he explained “I had only seen the livery on my phone and then I saw it on a real car. It’s really beautiful looking.”

The Frenchman also said that during his time in Australia, he needed to spend time tracking down a croissant in Melbourne that had caused quite a stir back in his homeland.

“Out of the top 10 best croissants in the world, the top nine is occupied by France, but I heard 10th place is in Australia. In Melbourne,” he explained.

“That’s a lot of pressure on that one in Australia, so I need to try it and I’m going be critical.”