Isack Hadjar was issued a formal warning from the Stewards following a fan interaction as he was heading to FP1 on Friday of the Mexico City Grand Prix Weekend.
Hadjar was running late for FP1 after stopping to take a photo with a young fan when an adult fan tried to grab him to take a selfie too. Hadjar pushed the fan away and kept moving forward.
The incident was caught on tape and reported to the FIA, and Hadjar was called to the Stewards.
In the meeting, Hadjar explained the situation, saying the guest approached him aggressively, and he responded by “placing his hand on the waist of the guest and holding him at bay, then [he] pushed him aside with his open right hand.”
The FIA says the second part of this move breached regulations, but it reduced the penalty to a formal warning based on five mitigating factors.
The Stewards reported that the factors were as follows:
a) The driver was reacting to an uninvited and rather aggressive action by another person.
b) The driver was [endeavoring] to make his way to the start of FP1 through a congested area.
c) The driver did not have sufficient security present.
d) The guest was invading his personal space without his consent.
e) The general issue drivers have experienced moving through the Paddock.
No fine or penalty points were levied against Hadjar for these reasons.
Victoria Beaver is a nomadic sports writer who spends her time hopping between race tracks and hippie farms. She’s covered every corner of motorsports that will let her in from 410 Sprints to NASCAR to Supercross. Her daily driver is a 2010 Subaru that she refused to do the smallest amount of preventative maintenance on. Instead, she spends her free time and money building a 42-foot Skoolie to one day travel the country full time.
