Hadjar "got scared" after his incident in second practice at Monaco

Despite his promising pace on the opening day at the Monaco Grand Prix, Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar has conceded that he "got scared" after his multiple encounters with the walls of the Principality.

Racing Bulls did not stand out with their performance earlier during the practice day, but Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar posted very impressive lap times on the final flying laps on the softs.

The New Zealander ended up in P5 ahead of team mate Hadjar, who found the barriers at Sainte Devote on a cooldown lap inside the final 10 minutes, which left the Racing Bulls machine with damage as he crabbed back to the pits.

Reflecting on his day at Monte Carlo, Lawson conceded that while he has already raced around the narrow streets of the Principality, the feeling inside an F1 car is very much different from any other racing cars.

“It’s been a positive day for us, it’s one of those tracks where you’re building up the whole weekend. We made a good step from this morning but naturally tomorrow everyone will keep progressing and we need to keep chasing.

"We made a lot of changes today and we will keep working. I’ve raced here before in other Formula’s but it’s much better in an F1 car, it’s faster and way more compliant.

"It’s a nice car and really fun, it’s special to drive around here. Tomorrow is the important day, we will focus on making another step in FP3 and try put ourselves in a good place for Qualifying.”

His team-mate Hadjar reflected on a rollercoaster first day after hitting the barriers twice. The Frenchman first hit the guardrails at the Nouvelle Chicane – which triggered a red flag and forced him to crawl back to the pits for repairs before also flirting with the walls at Sainte Devote.

“It was a really intense Friday. The free practices around Monaco are a lot busier than usual due to the traffic; I enjoyed it, but at the same time, it was really hard. It was a bit of a tricky day as I brushed some walls and constantly played with the limit.

"I got scared in FP2, as at some point, I thought that I couldn’t bring the car back to the garage due to some damage, but luckily, I managed to do it. This allowed us to have a few more laps on the softs towards the end of the session.

"I feel sorry for the team for my mistakes, as these added a bit more effort for them. They did an amazing job today," concluded the Frenchman.