Isack Hadjar blames himself for George Russell clash that “ruined” his Mexico GP

Isack Hadjar has taken some responsibility for his collision with George Russell at Formula 1’s Mexico GP, in which he miraculously scored two points.

Hadjar qualified down in seventh at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, two tenths and three spots away from Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, but gained two positions courtesy of a decent start.

The Frenchman was holding off Russell, but the Mercedes racer still kept his front tyres alongside Hadjar’s rear wheels instead of backing out going into Turn 6, sending the Red Bull into a spin.

“It’s a shame,” Hadjar said. “I honestly did not expect George to stick a wheel up Turn 6, because the corner was completely mine. I was aware of him, and I shouldn’t have trusted him in the end, but it happens. Clearly, it’s a shame, it’s completely ruined my race.

“To me, honestly, it’s my fault if that happened today, the lap-one incident. If I had done a better job yesterday, I wouldn’t be starting seventh, maybe we are fighting for better than a podium and we don’t meet George on the way. These things happen, but it’s better to maximise your chance at the front. I should have done a better job.”

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing, spins

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Russell, who skipped post-race media duties and therefore did not weigh in on the incident, copped a 10-second penalty, while Hadjar found himself down in 22nd, with “little damages on the floor”. Other than the struggling Aston Martins, he was the first driver to pit, on lap seven.

“Pace on the medium on the first stint, any time I had free air, was good,” he said. “When we pitted for the soft, I only did two laps [before the safety car and red flag], but I felt super quick. During that lap one, I was like ‘OK, I have a shot for the podium’, and then it was finished.”

Following his first tyre change, Hadjar successively overtook Valtteri Bottas, Ryo Hirakawa, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. He was unlucky to pit shortly before the safety car and red flag; further moves on Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg, Perez and Alex Albon brought him up to 12th only, as he struggled to fight his way through the field.

“Everyone has SM mode [straight mode],” he explained. “It’s just a train of cars and there’s no way to really overtake. I really struggled. I even had a great fight with Checo. He was very late on the brakes in the straight, I wasn’t really catching up. It was terribly hard.

Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

“In the end, it’s not like Mexico used to be a track where you could overtake [previously]. With the temperatures, the altitude, everything is on fire once you’re following someone.”

Speaking before penalties were announced for Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto – meaning he inherited ninth place after all – Hadjar could only see one positive from the race. 

“We had a good launch [at both starts], and probably my best start in a while this year,” he said. “We need to be happy about the job we did. Now we need to understand why it went so well so we can reproduce it.”

Still, this was yet another tough weekend for Hadjar, who has scored just 11 points across the last three grands prix – fewer than Liam Lawson’s 18.

“It’s frustrating now,” the 22-year-old admitted. “Malaysia, we had a deployment issue; Singapore, reliability all the time; Austin, terrible start, I was blocked in the wrong map. Everything is lining up so I have a terrible Sunday at the moment. Once it clicks, it’s going to click and it’s going to be nice.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team