Isack Hadjar, the Racing Bulls driver, found himself in a heated exchange with a fan during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. The 20-year-old was leaving the media pen after qualifying when he got into a verbal spat, which left him visibly upset. As he was heading towards the Sky Sports television crew for a live interview, the rookie driver was seen in a confrontation with a fan.
He even followed the man to the bridge leading to Red Bull’s hospitality unit. Hadjar then appeared on screen with the Sky Sports team, seemingly still upset and staring off into the distance. It is believed that the young driver’s conflict stemmed from a misunderstanding with the fan.
The incident began when the driver was asked for a photograph as he was leaving the media pen. However, things turned sour when the fan made a disrespectful comment towards Hadjar. Despite this unpleasant encounter, it didn’t seem to ruin Hadjar’s weekend.
He went on to achieve his best result of the F1 season in Monaco, securing a commendable sixth-placed finish, outpaced only by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, and world champion Max Verstappen.
This result marked Hadjar’s fourth points-scoring finish of the season. Afterwards, he took the opportunity to laud his team-mate Liam Lawson for his role in the successful race.
“Qualifying was the most intense day and most hard work I’ve had to put in since I can remember,” Hadjar admitted. “And the race, it was a bit easier because I really relied on Liam.
“He followed the strategy, the plan perfectly and he offered me really early pit stops. So that was the target and that was perfectly executed.
“I’m really proud because, you go into FP3, you finish P17, you go into quali, confidence is a bit ruined. And I’m proud that we didn’t give up and we played it smart, going step by step and disconnected the brain little by little every qualifying lap.
“We did a fantastic job. I think the key was just to keep it productive and keep the talking with my engineer to know what was going on [behind me].
“I was aware of Liam’s pace, we were keeping an eye on Fernando. We knew what was going on, I was ready to box at any time. It was quite easy and I had fun.”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect a safety car because the level of the field is really high so I knew nothing was going to happen. So I was confident the position was secured and I had to go until the end on these tyres which was a bit painful.”
This story originally appeared on The Mirror.
