Anthony Hamilton explained why he consoled Isack Hadjar following the Racing Bulls driver’s pre-race crash in yesterday’s Australian Grand Prix.
The father of seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton approached the tearful 20-year-old after he crashed during the formation lap.“I was just trying to give him some encouragement,” Hamilton told Viaplay after the race. “I basically said ‘hold your head up high, man, because you’ve worked since you were eight years of age to get to this position’.
“This is one of the most devastating things, obviously, that can happen to a driver. But there’s more to come and you’ve already shown that you deserve to be here on the grid. So just hold your head up high, hold your shoulders back, and walk tall.”
Hamilton, who played a vital role in developing his son’s racing talent, said he felt the need to comfort the distraught driver.
“It was tough for him,” he said. “But eventually, he lifted his head and he started to walk tall. And he’ll remember that, I hope.
“But it’s one of those moments in time when all parents will, I’m sure, have a feeling for him. He needed a hug and I just felt I needed to do it.”
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Hamilton said Hadjar’s parents “came over and said thank you” afterwards, “which was phenomenal.”
“I just thought now’s a good time to help someone else,” he added.
However Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko was unimpressed with what he saw after his junior driver’s retirement.
“Isack Hadjar did a little bit of crying after his crash,” he told ORF (Oesterreichischer Rundfunk). “That was a bit embarrassing.”
Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies said Hadjar “will learn from this and turn his frustration into good energy for the next race.
“We will be here to support him over the next few days before Shanghai and not let this cloud all the positives we can take from this weekend.”
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Chadwick Lo
17th March 2025, 9:25
Hadjer is 20 years old, let him go through the emotions. He’s got this far. His own parents or manager decide what he needs if anything. He’s a feisty driver who will make more mistakes.
Maybe Kimi needs a pat on the back and putting on a pedestal for totally outclassing Lewis in the Italian’s first ever race (like Bearman did)
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
17th March 2025, 9:29
Marko knows what it takes to become a champion. Max probably did his bit of crying when he was karting, not in Formula 1 (at 17, not 21 like Hadjar). Max will be regarded as the Greatest of All Time, meanwhile Hadjar will last until the next Red Bull Junior driver is ready to step up and that’s the harsh truth, whether you like it or not.
Jere (@jerejj)
17th March 2025, 13:33
I know what you mean, but the next driver in the queue, Arvin Lindblad is more likely to replace Tsunoda than Hadjar.
Snowy (@snowy666)
17th March 2025, 14:14
Marko is a thoroughly unpleasant character from everything I have seen, typical of him to take a heartless standpoint.
Also Max will never be known as the GOAT, he is far too flawed. Mercurially quick and talented no doubt, but his ‘at all costs’ approach will stop people viewing him in that light, much the same as people view Michael Schumacher (and Max hasn’t accomplished anything like Schumacher or Hamilton yet).
XM (@xmf1)
18th March 2025, 0:23
Funny you should say that, Schumacher and Senna both had “at all costs” attitude too.
Rob (@sundiesel)
18th March 2025, 0:43
Spot on……
oweng (@oweng)
17th March 2025, 15:10
Anthony Hamilton has raised a 7 times world champion.
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 11:14
Why didnt the Hamiltons sponsor Hadjar then for the last 4 years like the Austrians have? Niki Lauda said things about Lewis that would have people in meltdown today.
kuvemar
17th March 2025, 15:11
A guy who can’t overtake at the front without making contact or pushing someone off track. Sure, this is the greatest of all time.
He looked extremely ordinary last year when the car wasn’t dominant. Very reminiscent of Seb who also ran away with four titles in the best car. I don’t think anyone would put him onto a GOAT list these days.
magon4 (@magon4)
18th March 2025, 6:41
Wow. Just wow.
Lewis never had four titles with the best car?
And he never had unnecessary accidents because he didn’t like people passing him?
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 11:17
Funny thing is Lewis still crashed when he had the best car. Max is now getting abuse because he didn’t wave the faster McLaren’s past. Instead he dared to put up a fight, then gets called the bully.
If I was Max I would just sarcastically wave Lando past each time and rig the championship for him. It seems putting up a fight is offending too many people.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th March 2025, 9:35
Just in: Horrible person unsurprisingly says horrible things.
Ben (@1nkling)
17th March 2025, 9:37
Accurate!
BasCB (@bascb)
17th March 2025, 12:29
Yeah, this is pretty much exactly on type for Helmut. I am glad Anthony was there, we don’t need drivers to break down, we need them to grow, find confidence and be able to develop into their potential. Hadjar showed he has the speed on Saturday, it’s a shame he didn’t get a chance to show what’s in him on sunday.
It’s wholly normal that the emotions get to you in that situation, especially when you know you might have only a few races “to prove yourself” or be out, as is the case at Red Bull in the program ran by Marko.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th March 2025, 15:58
I think Helmut doesn’t understand that the way he brought some of his most succesful drivers to F1 isn’t sustainable these days. Even the youngest, brightest drivers he took to F1 (Vettel, Max) arrived with a lot more experience in those cars, and more mature in general. Hadjar’s off isn’t unique, it happened to many drivers over the years. The difference is that it was his debut. Showing emotions is more than understandable. Except for him.
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 11:19
Marko has been looking after Hadjar for 4 years . Surprise surprise he gets to F1 and the Narcissists step forward, thinking they know best.
Why don’t the Hamilton’s run their own young driver program?
SteveP
18th March 2025, 18:14
Well, Chad, I’m guessing you haven’t paid any attention to the Hamilton Commission and Mission 44 stuff that LH has put top side of £22 million into so far.
That’s all aspects of motorsport (prominently driving and engineering etc)
Shimks (@shimks)
17th March 2025, 18:35
I was shocked to read that quote from Marko. My opinion of him has sunk to new depths.
bull mello (@bullmello)
17th March 2025, 19:45
So true.
Sometimes Marko should be silent. But, he spouts anyway.
Patrick van Bergen
17th March 2025, 9:39
Yes, how dare he show feelings of frustration and disappointment. No man should cry when in public. HM is such an ignorant *bleep*. I’m pretty sure nobody was more embarrased than Hadjar. Felt pretty sorry for the guy. Hopefully he’ll bounce back.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th March 2025, 4:41
He’s embarrassed because a driver crying means he’s afraid of being fired soon and exposes marko’s ways, that’s the only thing I can think of.
tielemst
17th March 2025, 9:45
Marko: “That was a bit embarrassing.” and “We will be here to support him”.
You really think your support will help?
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
17th March 2025, 9:57
It wasn’t Marko saying that they would support him, it was Laurent Mekies
BasCB (@bascb)
17th March 2025, 12:30
Yeah, Marko wouldn’t say something. Good Hamilton Sr. was there to offer human support and Mekies is decent enough to be supportive too.
tielemst
17th March 2025, 14:39
My bad. Reading an article is not easy it seems. Not for me anyway.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
17th March 2025, 10:01
Reptilian.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
17th March 2025, 13:54
that’s one of the bonus features of the Prussian education system.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
17th March 2025, 10:02
If you want an example of how men should behave, look at the kindness and compassion of Anthony Hamilton in that moment. Drive to Survive shows such a toxic world of twisted ‘alpha males’ shouting, swearing, banging desks, and trying to dominate and belittle others. True strength is being able to put your arm around a stranger in a moment of vulnerability. It’s comforting and supporting, lifting people up not knocking them down.
The only embarrassing thing I’m seeing is Marko’s pathetic reaction. It’s no wonder that Red Bull struggles to get the best out of its drivers when this is the culture in the team.
MichaelN
17th March 2025, 10:11
It’s good to see alpha in quotes, because this behaviour by Marko is just sad.
Great to see Anthony Hamilton act and speak the way he did. A true man.
sam
17th March 2025, 16:27
That was pretty impressive.
PeteB (@peteb)
17th March 2025, 11:40
That is Formula 1 though… Look how most of them speak about each other.
Anthony Hamilton is an outlier in F1. He’s a guy who came from a normal life and worked ridiculously hard to give Lewis the opportunities he had. There are very few people involved in F1 who care about people more than money and power but he’s one of them.
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 11:25
You can’t be serious.
Lewis to be fair literally stated ‘the attraction of F1’ (whilst in grass roots) was “earning the big money with the big boys”
Anthony milked his own business (tax write offs) to supply Lewis with everything he needed. Knew how to attract big money investors to get Lewis his own Karting Formula and have it televised.
BTW Marko has been sponsoring Hadjar for 4 years. Hadjar is cocky and feisty. He shouldn’t be wrapped in cotton wool.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th March 2025, 12:32
Exactly @MazdaChris. There’s far too much of that in the world, and certainly in F1 (and especially within the RB driver program). Glad to have had a positive reaction to embrace as what we should all strive to be today.
Mal Ross (@malross)
17th March 2025, 15:24
COTD, for me 👏
richEQ (@richcaldwell)
17th March 2025, 22:19
Well put.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th March 2025, 4:43
Indeed, thinking about it, red bull didn’t have a decent 2nd driver since 2021 (that season by perez counts as decent), 2022 little worse, 2023, 2024 and so far 2025 absolutely incapable 2nd driver.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th March 2025, 4:44
And before perez came, we also have 2019 and 2020, so as soon as ricciardo left, with red bull not having a decent second driver.
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 11:36
I take it you’re a Hamilton fan?
A few points:
Perez was good enough to end Lewis’s longest winning streak, which is only 5 wins (Max 10)
Perez also put up a good fight at Abu Dhabi 21 spoiling a potential pit window opening up for the much faster Mercedes.
Perez’s record before Red Bull was much better than Rosberg’s before Mercedes.
Perez was leading the race at Baku that Hamilton bottled trying to follow him (a potential title losing moment)
Lewis won 5 of his 7 titles against Number 2 drivers, both Finns, who both moved aside for him.
An interesting record, that allows for good team mates. Biggest % of podiums in a season.
Sees 1. Schumacher. 2. Vestappen. and Hamilton not in the top 4.
SteveP
18th March 2025, 19:00
I take it you’re a Max fan.
Ignoring the German aspect of Nico Rosberg’s nationality, I suggest you talk to Nico about how he always “moved over” – be prepared to have him rip you a new one.
Schumacher: the team orders incidences are so frequent people debate which ones are “top 10”
Verstappen: has he ever won a championship without a clear number 2 acting as his rear gunner?
If you’re going to pick yardsticks, you could at least try to pick ones that are credible.
anon
18th March 2025, 6:31
@mazdachris unfortunately, it would seem from the way that some praise Marko here that you will find others with a similarly toxic mindset here too.
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 12:22
on the contrary, the majority attacking Marko seem to be led by something other than motorsport experience.
Tough love isn’t toxic.
Even Lewis and Lando would’ve stopped being molly coddled at times. Even so, remain the two drivers with publicised mental health problems.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
17th March 2025, 10:06
The pressure that these young people are under is impossible for most of us to comprehend.
He needed that hug.
He does not need to be belittled.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
17th March 2025, 10:25
Marko sure knows how to help a driver build confidence huh. At least Anthony Hamilton showed Hadjar how decency can look. Maybe he should replace Marko going forward.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
17th March 2025, 10:29
Actually I feel that both Marko and Anthony Hamilton were in the right here. Helmut Marko is an employer who stuck his head out to put Hadjar in that place. For that, Marko has reasons to be very critical. True, he is not very likable (understatement), but he chooses not to be. Hadjar needs somebody within the team as a mental coach, but that is not Marko.
On the other hand, Anthony Hamilton is a lot, but most prominently he is a father. And he did what a good parent does: comforting someone. The way he comforted Lewis after losing the title in ’21 was heartwarming and so was his approach to the Verstappens after that same race. I think Anthony is a good person.
drmouse (@drmouse)
17th March 2025, 10:45
A good employer or manager would not behave or speak that way. I’ve seen bosses like that before, they lose good employees because they are bad at managing them and have unproductive, decorated teams around them.
Marko is a relic of a bygone era when emotions were seen as weakness and bullying was acceptable. He shames both the sport and humanity in general by behaving as he does.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
17th March 2025, 10:49
You are right about that part. I didn’t mean that an employer should be demeaning about somebody crying. That was a cheap shot. What I mean is that I find it ok for Marko to be critical to Hadjar, but perhaps he should keep it indoors.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
17th March 2025, 11:43
I can see where you’re coming from but I disagree with you.
Firstly, Marko’s criticism isn’t levelled at the crash – he’s specifically belittling Hadjar for showing his emotions afterwards. Calling it embarrassing to cry. There’s nothing in that which is appropriate or constructive. The message is simply, crying is shameful and you shouldn’t do it. I’d like to believe that in the year of our Lord 2025, most people would recognise this attitude as archaic and harmful.
Second, even if the criticism was to do with the mistake Hadjar made on track, it’s really not a criticism that needs to be made, whether publicly or behind closed doors. Nobody should need to be told that it’s not ok to crash the car during the warm-up lap. It’s such a ridiculously obvious point. Of course the team expects better from him – any team would. Hadjar himself, very clearly from his reaction, understood that this incident was not something that should ever have happened. So where’s the benefit in simply criticising him for it? Hadjar didn’t crash the car because he didn’t understand that it wasn’t ok for him to spin on the way to the grid. Of all the people in the world, Hadjar will understand that better than anyone else. He made a clumsy error in tricky conditions. It shouldn’t have happened. He knows exactly what the expectations are, and what’s at stake if he does something like that again.
What the team should be doing, as I say above and others have said, is supporting him. That doesn’t mean just saying that everyone makes mistakes and it’ll be better next time – it means taking a line in public that it was his first race in the car, in very challenging conditions, and that it doesn’t reflect his quality as a driver. There were lots of drivers who span in those conditions, including Fernando Alonso. It’s not what they expect from him, but they will review the telemetry to understand why the spin happened and how it can be avoided in the future. That should be the line in public, and that’s what they should be doing in the debrief as well.
I recently sat down and re-watched the 2023 edition of Drive to Survive. For all its faults, I do find it a bit of a guilty pleasure. And in that season there was a scene where Gunther Steiner was holding a meeting with the aero team and others, talking about developing the car. And – accepting here that what we see is very heavily edited – I was struck by the fact he was basically just saying “the car isn’t fast enough. We need to be making the car faster. [other team] has made their car much faster, we should be able to do that too”. And I remember thinking, if this is an accurate portrayal of how he’s running this team, then the team is completely lost. It was as if he thought the team members weren’t trying. That they somehow didn’t understand that the car needed to be made faster. That what they really needed was an angry, sweary boss, banging the desk and telling them to make the thing go quicker. It’s not leadership. I like Steiner and think he’s great entertainment value, but the impression I had was of a weak, directionless boss who was completely out of his depth and lacked the skills required to look analytically at the things that were preventing their success. As if his role was simply to remind people what their job was, and tell them to do it better.
Whether this was a true portrayal of Steiner or not, the thing to take away is that this is no way to lead, or to motivate. You can’t bully people into doing a better job. You have to trust that when things go wrong, the people involved have the maturity and insight to understand that it wasn’t ok for it to go wrong, and don’t need berating for it.
A leader needs to inspire people; to create an environment which enables people to work to their fullest potential. They should have trust in their teams, and recognise that they need to be doing far more than just pointing out extremely obvious things that everyone already knows. Above all, the leader is responsible for setting out the culture in the operating environment. And in this case, Marko has shown that he wants a culture of bullying and fear that permeates from the top down.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
17th March 2025, 11:53
You have good arguments, I agree with you.
NathanC
17th March 2025, 12:05
Also, let’s not forget that a driver with much more experience(not going to name drop but if you know, you know) done the same thing last year, but even worse for the driver with much more experience they had a chance to save it but made a rookie move and beached the car.
Carsten Nielsen (@carstenb)
17th March 2025, 15:17
Well put, and agree 100%
Coventry Climax
17th March 2025, 17:32
Reading your descriptions, the first image I see before me is Lawrence Stroll in the Williams’ executive box again, looking over his shoulder -probably in the direction of Frank and Claire- with a thorough disdain on his face. Very inspiring indeed.
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 12:03
Some problems with your comments are:
1. Marko has been sponsoring and presumably looking after Hadjar for 4 years already. He’s now 20 years old.
2. Lewis and Lando were molly coddled and are the two drivers by their own admission with the worst mental health problems.
Be careful slinging words around like “bully” and “fear culture”.
This is an ego, high adrenaline and testosterone driven sport. Those things don’t make for a fluffy environment.
MichaelN
17th March 2025, 11:27
Hadjar is a 20 year old rookie. Marko knows, or should know, that if you stick a rookie in a (back of the) midfield team, on poor tyres, on a wet street track, stuff like this can happen. All of that it’s on him.
Being a jerk about it and kicking the guy when he is down is just sad. Maybe he should discuss whatever issues he had with a therapist rather than taking it out on Hadjar.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
17th March 2025, 11:21
A cartoon baddie who clearly has a huge chip on his shoulder at how his racing career went. Im sure when he had the terrible misfortune that did for his career, what he really needed was someone to turn the knife. This was not comparable but it was 100% not the way to act towards him. He will just make Hadjar feel isolated in an already brutal sport
Chadwick Lo
18th March 2025, 12:05
What like Marko has for the last 4 years to get him this far?
The Hamilton’s are the ones who’ve been fighting mental health issues.
BenjaminS (@benihana)
17th March 2025, 11:26
Anthony Hamilton aught to be rewarded for being a human being. Something a lot of folks forget how to be these days. I may not like Lew Lew much, but I’d buy his dad a drink or two.
David (@nvherman)
17th March 2025, 17:17
@benihana
I agree entirely. I’ve never been a Hamilton fan, but that’s in the car: out of the car, him and his family are class acts
BenjaminS (@benihana)
17th March 2025, 20:15
I agree to a point, he certainly is not a sore loser or anything and does have a fairplay attitude outside the car, but I personally find him cold, a bit arrogant but what multiple F1 champion isn’t and some of the things he does or says are a bit nauseating to me, but that is just me. I also find his dad so much more than Hamilton.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
17th March 2025, 18:10
If you called his son that he’d throw it over you. Maybe you could take some lessons from AH
BenjaminS (@benihana)
17th March 2025, 19:15
Called him what? I did not call his son anything.
SteveP
17th March 2025, 19:44
No?
“I may not like” [insert infantile tag name] “much, but I’d buy his dad a drink or two”
BenjaminS (@benihana)
17th March 2025, 19:57
You can call it infantile if you like, feel free, but how do you know if that is not his nickname or a term of endearment. Also, why does everyone have to pick on every bloody word we write. We are all imperfect aren’t we?
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
17th March 2025, 11:37
Marko is really awful person. If anything is embarrassing, it’s his behaviour. He’s a liability to their organisation. They would be better off without him.
It’s all very well being tough but that will only get you so far. They would be sunk without Verstappen there because everyone else they seem to destroy. Funny how these people thrive elsewhere eg Albon, Gasly, Sainz, Perez before he joined them.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th March 2025, 4:46
He did a good job getting verstappen back then, but since then they’re not even discovering great talent.
TheNewNo2
17th March 2025, 11:38
Marko is a truly awful person. Obviously I’m not in such a position, but I’d have serious doubts about signing onto the Red Bull young driver programme simply because of Marko being in a position of power.
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th March 2025, 7:57
A bit strong but your not wrong also you have to remember that Marko is of a age that he growup in an awful time (WWII) in Austria and that was NOT a good spot to be young…..
SteveP
18th March 2025, 9:45
I think he was 2 years old when the European fighting ended. (b. 27 April 1943)
Not that post-war Europe was a land of milk and honey, but I’m sure there were worse places.
RaidPW
17th March 2025, 11:47
Embarrassing? Let’s evaluate shall we? Hadjar is 20; not a child, but unlikely to be as emotionally mature as people who’ve been driving in F1 for ten years. He’s driving for a team where failing to perform means a high likelihood of losing his seat at the drop of a hat. He’s both incredibly excited and nervous about starting his first F1 race, clearly carrying a weight of expectation and worrying about extremely difficult conditions. He then makes a mistake (that other far more experience drivers later make) on the formation lap and can’t start the race. *Of course* he’s going to be upset.
If Marko can’t understand why he’d be in that state, then he shouldn’t be putting 20 year olds in F1 cars. I’m not Marko’s biggest fan to begin with, but this is particularly unfair even for him. Thank goodness Anthony Hamilton was there, because if that’s the kind of encouragement he’s getting from his own side, then clearly he needs support from outside of Red Bull.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
17th March 2025, 18:16
+1
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
17th March 2025, 19:47
+ 1.
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th March 2025, 8:00
He is from a are were people were much harsher and expect the same from the youngsters of this time… So no crybabies which you have to hold hands something I noticed myself on how childeren are way to be sheltered growningup.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
17th March 2025, 11:48
This just shows the difference between the classless team (Visa RB blablabla) who took a shot at Hamilton mocking him after his first day at Ferrari and Anthony Hamilton who went to comfort their drivers after having a bad day. It’s time for this team to be sold for good.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
17th March 2025, 12:00
If you need to cry, cry. Don’t suppress it. I was maybe 30 by the time I learnt that. It shouldn’t be ’embarrassing’. Schumacher used to cry on the podium, it’s healthy, whether in victory or defeat. It’s human emotion, we all have emotions and we’re better for embracing / understanding them than hiding from them.
I just wish it didn’t take Anthony Hamilton (who I assume don’t know each other) to walk through a mob of cameras to come hold him. When watching it, I couldn’t help but escape the feeling Drive to Survive will get a good 20mins out of this.
Did Helmut find Senna embarrassing when he cried? They’re only upset because they care.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
17th March 2025, 12:40
Häkkinen in the woods at Monza? Most employers would see that as commitment. Ron was as tough as they come, and I don’t remember him calling Mika crying ’embarrassing’.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
17th March 2025, 12:44
Absolutely! It’s just that sometimes the pressure and disappointment of one’s situation has to be released. He’s awful.
Edvaldo
17th March 2025, 12:29
Can Helmut even cry with that eye?
Alec Glen (@alec-glen)
17th March 2025, 12:39
My initial thought when I saw it was that Hadjar will be crying knowing that he’s got to go and face Marko in the motorhome…
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th March 2025, 8:02
More the call he is going to get in the morning…..Even Daniel & Max were not fan of.
Carl Parker (@mysticarl)
17th March 2025, 12:54
The faster Marko leaves the sport, the better.
If you’re being really kind to Marko, he could be referring to the mistake being an embarrassing one rather than the crying being embarrassing, but given Marko’s personality and previous form I highly doubt that.
Craig
17th March 2025, 14:22
I do wonder if he was pressed to remark upon Hadjar’s reaction but I don’t think that excuses him.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
17th March 2025, 14:53
Yeah, no excuse really. Could have been something more like:
“Well, clearly the mistake was not what we expect from him as a driver. But let’s keep in mind that he’s a rookie, driving his first race in extremely challenging conditions. If you watch the race, you’ll see there wasn’t a single driver out there today who drove a clean race without mistakes, it’s just unfortunate that his mistake happened when it did. I’m sure he wanted to put in a good performance and show us what he’s capable of, and you can see from his reaction just how disappointed he was to make this error. We know how good he is, and I’m certain that he’ll learn and grow from this experience. For sure, the important thing right now is that we sit down together as a team once the emotions have cooled off, and review what went wrong and how we can improve in future races.”
But obviously this could only happen in some bizarre alternate reality where F1 wasn’t populated by people with zero emotional maturity.
Chris Horton
17th March 2025, 13:04
The embarrassing thing is the bitter old man still steering Red Bull’s driver program after years of failure.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
17th March 2025, 13:16
Are you saying Schumacher, Senna, Lewis, Seb, Mika were ‘softies’? Their mental ‘toughness’ were just a part of their mentality, it also came with all the other facets that made up their person, including vulnerability, jealously and fear. We enjoy them as drivers because we live through their journey aside them, and they all became champions. Not ‘crybabys’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyW1aT2utc0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W6OswDJZJ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L1tlTv9eyE
Edvaldo
17th March 2025, 13:22
Unfortunately i could not find footage of Vettel crying after losing a podium in Fuji 2007, but yeah, that happened too.
Jere (@jerejj)
17th March 2025, 13:37
@bernasaurus I accidentally ended up reporting your post when clicking through the links.
Simon
17th March 2025, 23:28
https://c.tenor.com/7IRKdWF3mMkAAAAC/tenor.gif
FW11B (@fw11b)
17th March 2025, 13:16
Vettel may have won four titles at RB, but he seemed happier or more at peace in other teams. Max (sadly) is used to abusive authority, just read any articule about his upbringing with dad. Exclude these two and I can’t remember a single other driver who had considerable success – or at the very least seemed happy – under Marko’s stewardship. Yeah, Webber, Ricciardo, Perez won races, but that was more down to their talent and circumstances, and even they seemed miserable at times.
I know it’s a simplification to blame one person for everything, but I honestly don’t know what Marko is useful for, except mowing down talented drivers, creating office intrigue and providing clickbait. Why do they keep him on the payroll?
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th March 2025, 8:05
@fw11b simple he was friends with the owner of Red Bull and he has a contract with no ending ….
Jere (@jerejj)
17th March 2025, 13:35
Hadjar’s strong reaction to his costly unforced error was totally understandable rather than embarrassing, so I struggle to side with Marko on this matter.
Moi
17th March 2025, 14:00
You’d think we’re dealing with a 10-year old at football practice rather than a top racing driver with a salary most people will never get close to from the comments here.
If your CEO screws up this miserably and starts to cry, do you hug and tell him it’s allright or do you tell him to get on with it and do better?
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
17th March 2025, 14:22
Both, obviously.
MichaelN
17th March 2025, 14:34
I’m all for being critical of the ridiculous salaries tossed around in F1, and the insatiable greed that brings people making that kind of money to still flee to Monaco, but no matter how much money Hadjar gets, he’s still just a guy having his F1 debut ruined by a very awkward mistake.
Of course he should never do this again, and he knows that. But it costs nothing to have some empathy in a moment like this.
Edvaldo
17th March 2025, 14:59
I doubt he’s thinking about money when he waited months to make his debut in a series he worked his whole career to achieve, just to lose it in the first corner of the formation lap.
He felt like crying at the moment and he did. When he came back to the garage, he had already restored his composure.
Sportsmen cry, even with bank accounts we can only dream of. Are they not allowed because they’re rich? Such a lazy and shallow take.
Jason Blankenship (@jblank)
17th March 2025, 15:37
That wasn’t very nice of Marko. What was very nice was Mr. Hamilton’s showing of kindness to the young man.
Snowy (@snowy666)
17th March 2025, 15:57
Marko’s bitter that it only took one DNS for Hadjar to match the points Marko scored in his entire F1 career.
Oh, and Hadjar is ahead on race starts too!
Coventry Climax
17th March 2025, 17:46
Have you looked up Helmut Marko on, e.g., Wikipedia?
True, there’s better things to do on any day, but if you choose to criticize the man and don’t want to come across quite similar, at least get your facts straight.
Snowy (@snowy666)
17th March 2025, 18:09
Actually realised my error (on the second point) almost as soon as I had posted it, but no edit function on here sadly. Considered posting a correction but you saved me the effort :)
Coventry Climax
18th March 2025, 11:35
No worries.
Just wanted to set potential fake news right.
formevic
17th March 2025, 18:11
I can just understand HM , I don’t remember his age but suppose men born and raised on III Reich territory and time could not be allowed cry and seem weak?
PB
17th March 2025, 20:34
Helmut and Red Bulls attitude is why Max comes across as being mentally like the bully Dojo youths in Karate Kid.
F1fan
17th March 2025, 22:28
Hamiltons dad isn’t running an F1 team or a drivers program. He did what every dad would do. Not what an employer would do. It’s a cut throat world and people are expected to deliver. Shine or perish. As simple as that.
If getting paid plenty money to drive cars in circles is my life I better grow a spine.
Marko has other serious issues this isn’t one of them.
MichaelN
17th March 2025, 23:04
Except, it seems, Marko himself.
The only top tier talent he’s brought to F1 in over twenty years is Vettel, with a respectful nod to Ricciardo and Sainz as competent race winners on their day.
And that’s about it.
F1fan
18th March 2025, 20:49
Sure, that’s more than what anybody else has done. Of course you’d ignore Verstappen because getting that one talent is bigger than getting anyone else on the grid.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
17th March 2025, 23:46
Hadjar shouldn’t be embarrassed by showing emotions. Helmut Marko should be embarrassed for simply being himself.
baasbas
18th March 2025, 20:12
It seems impossible for me to find the source. Only thing I can find is the echo chamber that is the internet. But nowhere the actual interview. And I can’t play videos from ORF (I don’t have a vpn).
I’m all for slagging someone off, but I’m not doing it without reading/hearing the source. Let’s be honest, this site isn’t exactly renowned for its investigative journalism…
Does someone have an actual source??
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
18th March 2025, 22:36
If you set someone up to fail, and then they fail at the task you’ve given them, then they’ve done what you wanted.
Francesco (@schivo69)
19th March 2025, 6:28
This is an opinion of an 81 years old disabled person, it would be a good idea to avoid any negative comment as this could look like a discrimination against a vulnerable individual. Talking about bullying.
SteveP
19th March 2025, 8:02
Before jumping on that bandwagon, bear in mind that comments from various people here about watching Jim Clark racing put them in a similar generation to HM, and yet they fail to see any redeeming qualities or excuses.
Those a little younger will be mentally comparing their parents to HM, and finding him somewhat lacking.
Disability only has a bearing if you see the disability as greater/more significant than the person.
Francesco (@schivo69)
19th March 2025, 8:23
I won’t deny that in 1971 he was good. That’s more than 50 years ago. He is now 81 and a disabled person.
SteveP
19th March 2025, 15:43
Relevant: Informed judge of talent
Not relevant: Unless his memory is failing, in which case he is no longer qualified to do the job.
The age you have already referred to, the disability you keep harping on about, is not relevant.
People are not the disability in mobile form, people are people, and HM has apparently demonstrated he isn’t on the nice end of the scale of “people”. There are no special dispensations on that.
“A prat in a wheelchair is still a prat” (to quote a friend speaking of a friend)
Francesco (@schivo69)
19th March 2025, 8:23
My opinion.
nunof
19th March 2025, 16:22
But his driver physically assaulting a rival is ok??? Horner’s responsibility should include guaranteeing the ol’fart takes his pills. Sod off Helmut…and Flavio while you’re at it!
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
20th March 2025, 1:05
+1 jumping up and down