Isack Hadjar may have celebrated his strongest Formula 1 finish to date in the Canadian Grand Prix, but the Red Bull driver left Montreal with mixed emotions after a controversial on-track clash with Charles Leclerc that could easily have ended in disaster.
The young French driver crossed the line in fifth place, delivering an eye-catching result after a highly competitive weekend. However, one of the defining moments of his race came during an intense battle with Charles Leclerc following the pit stop phase, when an aggressive defensive manoeuvre at the end of the long back straight nearly forced the Ferrari driver into a major accident.
As Charles Leclerc launched an attack, Isack Hadjar moved late while defending his position, leaving the Ferrari driver with almost no margin for error and forcing him into evasive action. Although Charles Leclerc successfully completed the overtake, race stewards judged the move too aggressive and handed Isack Hadjar a 10-second time penalty. Despite the sanction, the penalty did not alter the Red Bull driver’s final classification.
Isack Hadjar admits mistake after Charles Leclerc incident
After the race, Isack Hadjar acknowledged that he had overstepped the limit in his battle with Charles Leclerc, explaining that the incident stemmed from confusion rather than deliberate intent.
The Red Bull driver admitted he had been too aggressive in defence and suggested he had misjudged exactly where Charles Leclerc was positioned during the overtake attempt. He stressed that there had never been any intention to push the Ferrari driver onto the grass, especially given his respect for Charles Leclerc’s clean racing style, and described the incident as a foolish mistake for which he immediately apologised.
Charles Leclerc, for his part, took a measured view of the clash. While the moment represented one of the more dangerous flashpoints of the race, the Monegasque driver chose not to escalate the issue, accepting both the stewards’ verdict and Isack Hadjar’s apology.
Charles Leclerc reportedly felt the penalty was justified, believing the defensive move crossed the line. At the same time, the Ferrari driver recognised how difficult these situations can be in modern Formula 1, where visibility in the mirrors is extremely limited and speed differentials can make judging positioning particularly difficult.
From Charles Leclerc’s perspective, Isack Hadjar likely realised too late that he had gone too far. The Ferrari driver also acknowledged that similar situations can happen to any driver, suggesting the incident was more a racing misjudgment than an act of recklessness.
Charles Leclerc calls Canadian GP result a near miracle
Despite the scare, Charles Leclerc still managed to salvage fourth place for Ferrari — a result he viewed as far better than the team’s actual performance level throughout the weekend.
The Ferrari driver admitted he never truly found confidence in the SF-26 around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, describing the weekend as one of his most uncomfortable of the season. While Lewis Hamilton extracted strong pace throughout the event, Charles Leclerc struggled badly with tyre preparation and could not consistently bring the tyres into the ideal operating window.
That made fourth place feel like a significant overachievement rather than a missed opportunity. Given Ferrari’s inconsistent pace and Charles Leclerc’s own struggles with balance and tyre warm-up, simply finishing just outside the podium places represented valuable damage limitation in the championship fight.
More penalties, but deeper frustration for Isack Hadjar
The clash with Charles Leclerc was not Isack Hadjar’s only issue in Montreal.
The Red Bull driver was also handed a stop-and-go penalty for failing to reduce speed sufficiently under yellow flag conditions. Remarkably, even that additional punishment did not prevent him from securing fifth place, underlining just how competitive he had been across the weekend.
Yet Isack Hadjar appeared more frustrated by his unexplained lack of pace than by the penalties themselves.
The Frenchman admitted he could not understand why the car felt so different compared to qualifying. After feeling comfortable and competitive the previous day, he found the race much more difficult, describing the car as unpleasant to drive and far less responsive than expected.
According to Isack Hadjar, the opening laps initially felt manageable, but once the leading group increased the pace, he simply had no answer. What made the situation even more confusing was the lack of tyre degradation, which should theoretically have made pace management easier. Instead, he was left searching for answers after a race that delivered a strong result on paper, but far more questions underneath.
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