Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar has released a new statement after being called 'embarrassing' by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hadjar crashed out of his debut race on the formation lap in wet conditions after qualifying in 11th place.
It had, up to that point, been an encouraging weekend for the 20-year-old, who was just over a tenth behind more experienced team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in the second qualifying session.
But Hadjar, who is a Red Bull junior driver, drew the ire of Marko with his unfortunate incident coming out of turn two before the race.
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He applied the throttle coming out of turn two but the car lost traction and speared into the outside wall, causing terminal damage to his Racing Bulls car.
After the incident, a devastated Hadjar was seen crying as he walked back to the paddock, before being comforted by Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony.
But in comparison to that reaction, Marko was much less forgiving as he issued a brutal and heavily criticised response to his driver's actions.
He told the Austrian Broadcast Corporation (ORF): "He put on a tearful show [after the crash]. That was a bit embarrassing."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, meanwhile, showed sympathy for Hadjar - at odds to Marko's controversial remarks.
"It was quite heart-wrenching to see him so gutted," he began.
"It's his first Grand Prix. I think the positives he needs to take out of it when he reflects on the weekend, he actually performed very well through the practices and the qualifying."
Now, Hadjar has addressed his crash in an Instagram post - but perhaps tellingly did not make reference to Marko's comments.
"Friday/Saturday was strong," he wrote. "Sunday was painful and unfortunate for the team.
"Car seems to work, can't wait to be back racing in Shanghai! Thanks for the unreal support."
Hadjar will have a second opportunity to record his first Formula 1 points-scoring finish at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Team-mate Tsunoda ran in sixth place during the first part of the Australian Grand Prix, but a strategy error from Racing Bulls when deciding when to switch the Japanese driver from dry tyres to intermediates ultimately cost them a points finish.
Tsunoda eventually finished 12th, two places outside the points-scoring positions.
Topics: Formula 1
Ryan Smart