Isack Hadjar isn’t your typical Formula 1 driver. He’ll come to the media straight after a session – qualifying or race – when he hasn’t really extracted the maximum, and there’ll be no excuses. He’d give very short answers. He’ll look straight at whoever is asking a question and say something really harsh about himself – to the point where some of these short meetings with a handful of journalists end up with them trying to give him reasons to cheer up.
“You are the only driver not to have been knocked out in Q1 this year. It’s not bad, is it? Something to smile about, at least,” someone pointed out to him on Saturday in Hungary, minutes after he qualified 10th. “Yeah,” Hadjar replied – and added nothing more. Even a reminder that reaching Q3 is still impressive for a rookie didn’t lift him.
