Lewis Hamilton’s dad shows class at Australian GP with rival driver gesture in early chaos | F1 | Sport
Anthony Hamilton, father of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, showed his class at the Australian Grand Prix, consoling Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar after he crashed on the formation lap in wet conditions. Hadjar was warming up his tyres in extremely wet conditions when he lost the rear of the car at Turn Two, spinning into the barriers and destroying the rear of his Racing Bulls machine.
The crash was a brutal debut moment for Hadjar, who impressed on Saturday in qualifying, securing the best grid slot of any of the six rookie drivers in the field.
Hadjar said nothing to his engineers after finding the barriers, but his body language said it all as he trudged away from his stricken race car with his hands behind his lifted visor. The Frenchman was still in floods of tears when he reached the paddock.
Noting the rookie’s misery, Hamilton Snr stepped out from the Ferrari garage and met Hadjar in the paddock, giving the 20-year-old a hug. This gesture was followed up with a visit from F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
The interaction will have extra meaning for Hadjar, given the rookie’s adoration for Hamilton Jnr. “I grew up watching him, and from the age of three, I’ve always been his fan, cheering him on as he won seven titles,” he said ahead of his debut. “I was overjoyed to support my idol dominating the sport.
“I believe he’s the most complete driver on the grid. Since I started racing, I’ve been even more drawn to Formula One, and it was clear to me that Lewis was the one to beat—the benchmark for everyone. For me, he’s always been the GOAT. I admire him so much and draw inspiration from everything he does.”
Hadjar’s blushes were spared somewhat by the events that followed. When the race did start, Jack Doohan lost control of his Alpine car on the opening lap and smashed into the outside barriers, bringing his second start to a premature end.
There was another crash mere laps later under the safety car. Carlos Sainz spun out at the final corner, finding the barriers. The Spaniard complained of a ‘torque surge’ over the radio.
