Isack Hadjar purifies the air around him Helmut Marko’s controversial criticism His F1 debut. The French-Algerian driver, who made his Bulls debut last year, crashed on the warm-up lap of the Australian Grand Prix.

Hadjar failed to assess the severity of the wet conditions and slid into the barrier after his VCARB01 lost grip. His F1 debut was over before it even started when his car’s rear wing was damaged. He looked devastated after the accident and cried as he walked back to the paddock.

In the post-match interview open reading frameHelmut Marko, then head of Red Bull’s driver development program, made controversial comments about Hajar’s raw emotions.

“Isaak Hajar cried for a while after the crash. It was a bit embarrassing,” the Austrian said.

This sparked controversy on social media, with Marko facing backlash for his insensitive comments. However, Hajar recently revealed that the 82-year-old was not angry or upset by the accident. Hadjar said in an interview with Formula1.nl:

“It was painful and I agreed with him. Later, he told me it could happen to anyone. He wasn’t angry. His message was, better luck next time.”

A few days after the incident, Isack Hadjar defends Helmut Marko He said he himself found the situation “embarrassing.” The current Red Bull driver also revealed they spoke on the phone after the incident and Marko’s statement in German may have been “reinterpreted” incorrectly.

Isack Hadjar’s 2026 Red Bull campaign starts with crash but Laurent Mekies sympathizes

Isaac HajarHis 2025 F1 season started with a heartbreaking crash at the Australian Grand Prix, as did his 2026 pre-season with an unfortunate crash at the five-day race in Barcelona earlier this week. The 21-year-old crashed Red Bull’s RB22 at Turn 14, the final corner of the circuit, in wet conditions on the second day of testing.

With about 30 minutes left in the day’s test, the car crashed into the TecPro guardrail from the rear first. This time, however, he received no criticism. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekis expressed sympathy for Hajar, saying:

“Look, it was a very tricky situation this afternoon and it’s very unfortunate that it ended the way it did, but that’s part of the game. Again, very tricky and there’s a lot of work to do in a lot of ways and things like this can happen.”

“Today’s difficulties come after a very, very positive day yesterday, both in terms of the laps Isak completed in the car, but also in terms of his learning, development and feedback to the engineers,” Mekis added.

The second practice of the second day was Isaac Hajjar’s last practice of the week. Max Verstappen He took over from him for two sessions on day 5 of testing, Red Bull’s third and final day on track.