SHANGHAI, March 20 (Reuters) - French Formula One rookie

Isack Hadjar shrugged off negative comments from Red Bull

adviser Helmut Marko and said he had felt the love of fans and

fellow drivers after a tearful debut in Australia last weekend.

The 20-year-old also told reporters at the Chinese Grand

Prix on Thursday that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton,

his boyhood hero who is now racing for Ferrari, had sent a

message of support.

Hamilton's father, Anthony, was seen putting an arm around

the Racing Bulls driver and consoling him in the paddock after

Hadjar crashed his car on the formation lap on a wet and

slippery track in Melbourne.

Marko, 81, was quoted telling Austria's ORF television that

the driver had "done a little bit of crying" and that the tears

were "embarrassing".

"You know, I found it embarrassing myself," Hadjar said at

the Shanghai circuit of a crash that came after he had made a

solid qualifying debut with 11th place on the grid.

"And you know Helmut. I had him on the phone a day later and

it's all good," he added. "I mean, I know him since a few years

now. I know how he works. I think he said that he was speaking

German, he was reinterpreted differently, you don't know about

the body language. I didn't see the footage so I can't say

much."

Marko, a former racer who was close to Red Bull's late

founder and fellow Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz and oversees the

young driver programme, has a reputation for controversial and

blunt comments.

Hadjar, last season's runner-up in Formula Two, said the

reaction from others had taken him by surprise.

"All the love from the fans and the people, I did not expect

that at all when I binned it in the wall," he said. "It was a

nice moment sharing time with someone like Anthony, obviously

the dad of my idol, so it was quite a special moment."

Hadjar said he felt "quite a lot better" already on Monday,

helped by China following on immediately after Australia and

giving him a fresh focus.

"It's one track I've been, since I was a kid, playing on

PS3, PS4, with the controller," he said of Shanghai. "So I know

the track well, even though I've never driven here. I'm quite

excited about it."

(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Gerry Doyle)