Melbourne, March 17 Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony Hamilton has revealed why he rushed to greet Isack Hadjar in the paddock following the Racing Bulls rookie’s formation lap exit at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hadjar had enjoyed a strong start to his F1 career, positioning himself as the fastest rookie driver in both of the first two free practice sessions and cementing his pace in qualifying – securing 11th on the grid while narrowly missing out on a Q3 spot.
But this was quickly overshadowed in treacherous conditions on Sunday, when he lost control of his car at Turn 2 on the formation lap and spun into the barriers. In the final classifications, this resulted in a Did Not Start notice next to his name.
Hamilton rushed towards the rookie driver to give the young gun a hug.
“The thing is, as soon as I saw what happened to Isack, my heart fell and I just felt for him. It was just so sad to see because I know how hard it is when these kids are eight years of age and they dream of becoming a Formula 1 race driver.
“There’s a lot of pressure all of the way up and you’re sitting on the grid for your first race and it doesn’t happen. That’s got to be the worst feeling in the world and I just felt for him. I just wanted to give him a hug. I felt for him like a father," said Hamilton to Canal +.
Isack has been the center of attention after Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko labelled his performance on the day as ‘embarrassing.’ The 20-year-old also reflected on how the ‘tiniest mistake’ led to him feeling terrible.
“Usually I take it step by step and work on having the best out lap before the race starts. Early in the lap you try and warm up the tyres and I overdid it. It's the tiniest mistake you can make and then the car is unsavable and you're just a passenger so yeah it feels terrible,” said Isack to F1 TV.
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