F1 star involved in altercation with fan moments before Sky Sports interview
Formula 1 rookie Isack Hadjar saw an angry exchange with a fan before recording an impressive result in Monaco to secure his best finish of the season
Isack Hadjar was involved in an altercation with a fan over the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. The Racing Bulls driver engaged in a war of words as he left the media pen, following qualification, and was left to angrily stew on the incident.
The 20-year-old was making his way towards Sky's F1 television crew to complete a live post-qualification interview with presenter Simon Lazenby and pundits Jenson Button and Naomi Schiff. But the rookie driver could be seen in a stand-off with a fan moments before appearing on air and had followed the individual to the bridge to Red Bull 's hospitality unit.
Hadjar appeared on screen with the Sky F1 crew soon after, though appeared to initially be angrily staring off into the distance following the incident. The young driver's conflict is said to have been caused by a misunderstanding with the fan.
The driver had been asked for a photograph as he exited the media pen. But a frosty conversation followed as the supporter made a disrespectful comment towards Hadjar.
The interaction would not have dampened Hadjar's weekend for long however as the youngster claimed his best result of the Formula 1 season in Monaco. After qualifying in sixth and starting the race a place further up the field after Lewis Hamilton received a penalty for impeding Max Verstappen, Hadjar delivered in the race too.
The Racing Bulls star earned a sixth place finish, with only the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and world champion Max Verstappen beating him around Monte Carlo.
That saw Hadjar record his fourth points finish of the season. And the driver paid tribute to team-mate Liam Lawson's efforts in allowing him to flourish in the race.
"Qualifying was the most intense day and most hard work I've had to put in since I can remember," Hadjar said. "And the race, it was a bit easier because, I really relied on Liam.
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"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."
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