Why F1 debut misery is exactly what Hadjar needed

Crashing out on the formation lap of his first F1 race will always be painful for Isack Hadjar. But, in a perverse way, it might be the best thing that could have happened to him.

His heartbreak in the immediate aftermath was captured and broadcast around the world and you could not help feel for him and his tortured tears - unless you are Helmut Marko, who needlessly reduced himself to the role of pantomime villain with his out-of-step remarks.

As haunting as that unfortunate moment might be for the young Frenchman, he is not alone in finding the wall on the formation lap of a race.

Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll have both done it in recent seasons. However, the former's incident was due to a hydraulics issue.

It even happened to Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2020. Although, he did manage to make the start after some fine work by Red Bull to fix his wounded car. But none of the aforementioned trio did it at their first grand prix.

So, complete mirror images, no. Obvious parallels for the 20-year-old to draw comfort from? Absolutely.  

Be it in the NFL, the NBA, or indeed F1, every professional athlete has what is a called a welcome to the * insert respective sports league here * moment in their career, and this was Hadjar's. Bruising and brutal it may have been, but he will be a better racing driver for it.

Heartfelt reactions to gut-wrenching pain

It is an experience that will toughen Hadjar, but in a good way. For what it is worth, F1 presenter Laura Winter is completely right. There is nothing "embarrassing" about a young man showing his emotions.

In fact, it should be celebrated and encouraged. Is this not exactly the kind of raw, unabated reaction everyone feared would be lost through the FIA's attempt to censor drivers? A departure from the point that may be, but it is an important one to make.

More pertinent to how Hadjar recovers from this setback is the overriding response from within Red Bull.

Christian Horner and Laurent Mekies both focused on how strong a weekend the Racing Bulls driver had strung together up to the crash, and it was.

And the reactions of Anthony Hamilton and Stefano Domenicali matter too. As awful as it must have been for Hadjar, he has been embraced because of the recent adversity he has faced.

And, taken as the sum, it could prove to be somewhat of a road to Damascus moment for him, especially given the often-ruthless nature of Red Bull's driver management and the highly-touted Arvid Lindblad readying himself for the next step of his own career.

The Antonelli comparison

In near-direct contrast to Hadjar's fortunes in Melbourne was that of a fellow rookie, Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli. A difficult qualifying subsided and the Italian put together an undeniably impressive maiden voyage in F1.

Whilst that juxtaposition will be of little solace to Hadjar at the moment, it does cut the very heart of why this will ultimately prove to be a blessing, not a curse.

In many ways, the two are similar drivers. Both on the edge and undoubtably quick, and both with a tendency to push it just a little too far from time to time.

On the most recent episode of the RacingNews365 podcast, I made the point that Antonelli's crash in FP1 at the Italian Grand Prix last year might have been the best thing to happen to him. I feel the same of Hadjar's shunt at Albert Park.

It affords Red Bull the opportunity to put an arm around his shoulder, build him back up again and, most importantly, rein him in slightly - just as Toto Wolff would have done with Antonelli at Monza.

Plus, the immediacy of the Chinese Grand Prix gives the French driver the chance to get straight back on the horse. Or, more aptly, straight back in the car - and his confidence will return from there.

So as difficult an episode as Hadjar's Melbourne misery will have been, if Antonelli is any marker to go by, he will be just fine. And to borrow from the rock band The Who: the kids are alright.