Isack Hadjar's frustration with Carlos Sainz followed him all the way back to his garage, and to his media session, after being eliminated in Q1 for the first time in his Formula 1 career at the Italian Grand Prix.
Hadjar's initial radio anger had faded to perplexed irritation by the time he spoke to broadcasters and the written media, but Sainz was still in his scope after the Williams driver got under Hadjar's skin at the end of Q1.
The two cars left the pitlane close together for their final runs, Sainz having already briefly caught Hadjar's ire by sneaking ahead while forcing his way into the fast lane, as the Williams drivers tend to do with their garages at the end of the pitlane.
Sainz let Hadjar by before leaving the pits, just to be sure he did nothing wrong, and it was what followed - Sainz pushing hard right behind Hadjar for the entire out-lap - that led to Hadjar decrying his own out-lap as a "mess" and accusing Sainz of "playing around, trying to make my life difficult".
He had been even stronger on the team radio while waiting at the weighbridge after returning to the pits, asking rhetorically: "Why does Sainz have to be so annoying? Who the hell does an out-lap, a warm-up. I mean, what was he doing?
"He's just playing around to just let me by like s**t."
What really happened was slightly more straightforward, if a little unusual. Sainz was not playing games with Hadjar, but rather embarking on an unconventional run plan: out-lap, preparation lap, push lap.
This had been confirmed over the radio by his race engineer before Sainz had even hit the track and, with time marginal to start his very last lap in time, Sainz was given multiple hurry-ups. He was told twice he was "critical" on time and urged to clear Hadjar as long as he avoided interfering with Hadjar starting his lap properly.
So Sainz followed that instruction to the letter, and Hadjar - keen not to let Sainz by and lose track position himself - pushed to keep him behind. Hadjar was told a couple of times by his own engineer that he could let Sainz by, and in the end opted to do so very late, just before the final corner.
That meant Hadjar had ultimately rushed his out-lap for nothing, given he could have let Sainz by sooner with much less fuss, and despite starting the lap well he drove a flustered middle sector that was made slightly awkward by traffic.
The time lost there cost Hadjar a place in Q2. If he had even matched his previous best sector two time, he would have progressed regardless of being adamant that running wide out of Lesmo 2 had caused some minor damage that compromised his final sector.
"He was just super annoying on the out-lap," said Hadjar. "He was not going to push anyway, so I don't know why he was fighting so hard for track position and to then just let me buy on my lap, so I'm compromised on the out-lap for nothing, and yeah later on I made a mistake.
"But honestly, all of that doesn't matter, because I'm starting last tomorrow."
This final statement must refer to a planned engine change on his Racing Bulls that hasn't yet been declared to the FIA, because Hadjar hasn't yet been handed an official grid penalty at Monza.
He admitted knowledge of this plan coming into qualifying, meaning "even if I was putting it on pole I wouldn't care because I'm starting from the back", that his "mindset was probably not great" because "I hate going into qualifying knowing anyway that I'm starting last tomorrow".
"I like having pressure going into qualifying," he added. "And this was just wrong."
This engine change plan would explain why Hadjar's Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson, who was slowest of all in Q1, was given the team's only updated floor for this weekend. Even without the upgrade, Hadjar reckoned his car "could reach Q3" but for the fact "it's the first time in Q1 so much happened, everything goes wrong, and I made a mistake also.
"If I'm starting in the top 10, we have a shot at points, but we can't overtake 10 cars on pure pace and with a good strategy," he added. "It doesn't happen."
