Isack Hadjar Slams George Russell Over Mexico GP Clash Before Taking Blame For Qualifying

Isack Hadjar plummeted to the back of the grid on Lap 1 of the Mexico City Grand Prix after being spun out by George Russell at Turn 6.

The 22-year-old Red Bull racer had entered Sunday afternoon harbouring genuine hopes of a podium finish at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Hadjar lined up seventh on the grid and made immediate progress through the opening complex of corners.

His early momentum vanished moments later when Russell attempted an aggressive move down the inside of the tight sixth corner.

The Mercedes driver launched his W17 into the narrow gap, but the maneuver resulted in heavy contact with Hadjar’s Red Bull RB22.

The collision sent Hadjar into a spin and dropped him down to the rear of the field.

FIA stewards investigated the collision swiftly and deemed Russell fully responsible for the incident.

The British driver was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

DRAMA AT TURN 6

Hadjar cut a visibly frustrated figure when facing the media in the paddock pen after the race.

The young driver did not hold back when analyzing the incident that defined his afternoon in Mexico City.

“I honestly did not expect George to stick a wheel up Turn 6 because the corner was completely mine,” Hadjar said.

The Frenchman expressed deep regret that an otherwise promising grand prix fell apart within the opening miles.

“I was aware of him and I shouldn’t have trusted him in the end, but it happens,” Hadjar explained.

He summed up the consequence of the Turn 6 contact with absolute finality.

“Clearly, it’s a shame. This completely ruined my race.”

PUNISHMENT FROM THE STEWARDS

The stewards reviewed video footage and telemetry data before concluding that the Mercedes driver had caused avoidable contact.

Standard Formula 1 racing guidelines place the burden on an overtaking driver to execute a clean maneuver without compromising the car ahead.

By awarding a 10-second sanction, the stewards confirmed that Russell had carried too much speed into an apex that was already occupied.

The penalty severely hindered Russell’s own afternoon, dropping him behind McLaren rival Lando Norris in the running order.

Russell found himself running sixth when the race was later brought to a temporary halt by a heavy crash involving Valtteri Bottas.

A red flag stoppage provides teams with opportunities to regroup, but Russell was unable to make meaningful inroads during the second part of the grand prix.

REPAIR WORK AND LOST PACE

Hadjar’s immediate challenge after the spin was nursing a wounded car back through the field.

The Frenchman managed to keep his engine running and rejoined the circuit far behind the pack.

He later confirmed that the RB22 had suffered mechanical damage during the clash with Russell’s Mercedes.

“Little on the front. Little damages,” Hadjar stated when assessing the physical toll on his machinery.

The team worked quickly to rectify the aerodynamic issues when Hadjar made his scheduled stop in the pit lane.

“We had to repair something during the pit stop, which took a couple of seconds,” he recalled.

Hadjar clarified that the mechanical damage was manageable, noting it was “nothing dramatic.”

Despite the repairs, the lost track position and compromised aerodynamics proved insurmountable hurdles in his quest for a podium.

His underlying speed suggested that a far superior result had slipped away.

“I think the pace on the medium in the first stint anytime out of [Turn] 3 I was good,” Hadjar reflected.

His performance remained exceptionally strong when switching to the soft compound tyre later in the race.

“When we pitted for the softs, I only did two laps but I felt super, super quick,” Hadjar explained.

The contrast between his car's speed and his eventual ninth-place finish compounded his frustration.

“During that Lap 1, I was like, ‘Okay, I have a shot for the podium.’ And then it was finished.”

TAKING THE BLAME FOR QUALIFYING

While Hadjar felt aggrieved by Russell’s overambitious move, he refused to place the blame entirely on his rival.

In a remarkably candid self-assessment, the Frenchman turned the spotlight onto his own performance during Saturday's qualifying session.

Hadjar acknowledged that qualifying seventh had left him vulnerable to the chaotic pack dynamics of an opening lap in Formula 1.

“Honestly, it’s my fault that happened today, the Lap 1 incident, because had I done a better job yesterday, I wouldn’t be starting seventh,” Hadjar admitted.

He recognized that qualifying higher up the grid would have eliminated the risk of encountering Russell in the midfield scramble.

“Maybe we are fighting for better than a podium, and we don’t meet George on the way,” Hadjar said.

He accepted that tight battles and occasional contact are inevitable hazards of starting deep in the pack.

“These things happen. It’s better to maximise your chances at the front. Should have done a better job.”

SUNDAY WOES CONTINUE

The Mexico City disappointment extended a painful run of difficult Sunday races for Hadjar.

Sunday was simply the latest chapter in a stretch of missed opportunities and mechanical misfortune across several race weekends.

“It’s frustrating now,” Hadjar conceded when reflecting on the recent sequence of rounds.

He pointed back to earlier events on the calendar where external factors disrupted his grand prix performances.

“Malaysia, we had the deployment issue,” Hadjar noted regarding his power delivery struggles.

The mechanical headaches did not stop there for the Red Bull driver.

“Singapore reliability all the time,” he added regarding persistent car troubles in street race conditions.

The United States Grand Prix in Austin had delivered its own unique setbacks before the race had properly developed.

“Austin, terrible start, I was blocked in the wrong map,” Hadjar stated.

The compounding issues have left the young driver feeling as though bad fortune continues to strike every time points are awarded.

“So everything is lining up so I have a terrible Sunday at the moment.”

Yet Hadjar remains entirely confident that his pace will produce top-tier results once his operational fortunes stabilize.

“Once it clicks, it’s going to click, and it’s going to be nice.”

MERCEDES MISFORTUNE ON LAP 1