Isack Hadjar was in no mood to hear Kimi Antonelli‘s apology as he furiously waved away the Italian’s hand moments after the conclusion of the Shanghai Sprint race. Hadjar had finised way down in 15th and a long way off the points after suffering damage at the first corner of the opening lap.
That was caused by Antonelli who was late on the brakes and locked up his front wheels when he had to squeeze them a little harder to get his car stopped. And the loss of grip meant he careered into the side of Hadjar’s Red Bull, knocking it off track and causing shards of debris to fly off it.
Hadjar was left lacking pace for the rest of the 19-lap contest and was never a threat for points, finishing five places down from his starting position of 10th. Antonelli was given a 10-second time penalty which cost him second place as, after serving that punishment at a late pit stop during a safety car period, he managed to finish only fifth in the Mercedes.
But that punishment, and the time between the collision and the end of the Sprint, were not enough for Hadjar to have calmed down enough. Footage from the camera mounted on board his Red Bull showed Antonelli approach him while in parc ferme and Hadjar, still seated in the cockpit of his car, wave away the hand of apology offered to him by his fellow F1 sophomore.
Speaking in TV interviews after the Sprint, Hadjar revealed part of his frustration stemmed from the fact the damage on his car limited the amount of useful data Red Bull were able to gather from the Sprint, when it comes to analysing the performance of the RB22 while on the soft tyre around the Shanghai International Circuit.
The Frenchman said: « We wanted to understand how the soft was going to perform, and with a completely destroyed floor, we can’t work. I don’t understand why he’s overexcited like that when he’s got a rocketship and will recover regardless… Anyway, it happens. »
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff accepted that Antonelli was at fault, though he did not agree with the severity of the punishment he was given. The Austrian said: « Clearly his fault, [but] I think 10 seconds is a bit harsh, relatively harsh. But at the end of the day it also cost Hadjar his position, or even his race. The stewards are in a difficult position when it comes to judging something like that, in my opinion. »
Wolff’s sympathy for Hadjar was lessened, though, by that refusal of Antonelli’s apology, having clearly seen the clip for himself. The Mercedes chief added: « Unsportsmanlike. That’s not how it should be, waving him away. »
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