Red Bull's Helmut Marko faces fan backlash for his comments about Isack Hadjar crying after he crashed out of the F1 Australian GP

F1 fans were left fuming after Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko gave a scathing assessment of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar crying following his crash at the start of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. The French driver was starting his debut race in Melbourne from P11 after narrowly missing out on Q3 in the qualifying session on Saturday.

The rookies on the grid faced a test of attrition, as the rain made the track slippery and tricky to drive for the main race. The 20-year-old was the first driver to crash out of the race after Turn 1 on the formation lap and fail to even start.

Following the incident, Hadjar was inconsolable and cried all the way back to the F1 paddock. However, speaking with ORF, the VCARB driver's emotional walk back to the paddock did not impress Red Bull driver advisor Marko, who said:

"Isack Hadjar did a little bit of crying after his crash. That was a bit embarrassing."

F1 fans gave their reactions to Marko's comments about Hadjar on social media platform X, with one posting:

"Only thing embarrassing is bashing others for showing emotion. god forbid a rookie cries because his debut race ended before lap 1, almost like he’s a normal human being…"

"Does anybody actually like Helmut Marko?"

"Helmut is such a horrible dude. The main reason I can’t get fully on board with supporting Red Bull," a third fan wrote.

Here are more reactions.

"Marko is ruthless… I think he’s completely disconnected from his human side," a fan wrote.

"Old musty a** Helmut should stop talking lol," another said.

"There’s a reason for a retirement age," one tweeted.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said it was "heartwrenching" for him to see the Frenchman being emotional after his formation lap crash at the 2025 Australian GP.

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Red Bull team principal gives his opinion on Isack Hadjar's crash

Speaking with the media post-race, Christian Horner reflected on Isack Hadjar's debut weekend in F1 and said:

"It was quite heartwrenching to see him so gutted in his first Grand Prix. I think the positives he needs to take out of it when he reflects on the weekend. He performed very well through the practices and the qualifying. You forget that these guys are just kids really.

Obviously a lot of emotion for him today, but I think when he strips it back, there's an awful lot of positives he can take out of the weekend. He's got many bright days ahead of him."

Hadjar had qualified the best of all the full-season debutants on the grid including Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull driver Liam Lawson, both of whom failed to get out of Q1.