Isack Hadjar’s fury with Carlos Sainz didn’t cool down with the chequered flag. It followed him into the garage, onto the weighbridge, and all the way into the media pen after the Italian Grand Prix qualifying — where the rookie suffered the embarrassment of a first-ever Q1 exit in Formula 1.
The initial team-radio rant had morphed into a more bitter irritation by the time he faced the cameras, but the target was unchanged: Sainz. The flashpoint came right at the climax of Q1.
Both cars rolled out of the pitlane for their final runs together. Sainz had already annoyed Hadjar by muscling into the fast lane — something Williams drivers are infamous for, given their garage position at pit exit. He then let Hadjar through to avoid accusations of blocking.
But instead of backing off, Sainz latched on to Hadjar’s rear wing for the entire out-lap. That’s when Hadjar lost it, declaring his lap “a mess” and accusing the Spaniard of “playing around, trying to make my life difficult.”
His fury was unfiltered on the radio at the weighbridge:
“Why does Sainz have to be so annoying? Who the hell does an out-lap, a warm-up? What was he even doing? He’s just playing around to then let me by like s**t.”
The reality, though, was less sinister — if still unorthodox. Sainz wasn’t trolling Hadjar. He was running a different programme: out-lap, preparation lap, then push lap. His engineer had confirmed it before he left the pits. And with time critical to even make the flag, Sainz was repeatedly told he was on the limit and had to hustle, so long as he didn’t block Hadjar’s flying lap.
In other words: Sainz was doing exactly what Ferrari told him. Hadjar, meanwhile, stubbornly refused to give up track position. His own engineer told him — twice — to let Sainz by. He didn’t. Only at the very last second, just before the final corner, did he cave.
That hesitation killed his lap. He started his push lap flustered, messed up sector two with traffic and nerves, then ran wide at Lesmo 2, convinced he’d picked up floor damage. Yet the brutal truth is this: even without that error, simply matching his earlier sector two would have been enough for Q2. He blew it.
Still, Hadjar aimed all his anger at Sainz:
“He was just super annoying on the out-lap. He wasn’t even going to push, so why fight me for track position only to let me by later? I got compromised for nothing. And yeah, I made a mistake. But honestly none of it matters, because I’m starting last tomorrow.”
That last line gave the game away. The Racing Bulls rookie already knew he was doomed to start from the back thanks to a looming engine change, yet to be rubber-stamped by the FIA. He even admitted it: “Even if I was putting it on pole, I wouldn’t care, because I’m starting last anyway. My mindset was probably not great. I hate going into qualifying knowing I’ll be starting last.”
It also explained why his team-mate Liam Lawson, who was dead last in Q1, got the team’s only new floor upgrade at Monza. Hadjar ran the old spec — and still believed the car had Q3 pace.
Instead, he imploded. “It’s the first time in Q1 so much happened all at once. Everything went wrong. I made a mistake too. If I start in the top 10, we can fight for points. But you can’t overtake 10 cars on pure pace and strategy. It just doesn’t happen.”
The irony? Hadjar spent more energy raging at Sainz than fixing his own mess. Yes, Sainz’s unorthodox out-lap was awkward. But Hadjar knew he was starting last anyway. In reality, his Monza qualifying was doomed before it even began. The meltdown only made it uglier.
