Isack Hadjar pushed back against Fernando Alonso’s criticism after their tense battle in the Singapore Grand Prix. The Racing Bulls rookie defended firmly against the remarks made by the Aston Martin veteran over team radio.The Singapore night race saw Alonso start P10 and Hadjar in P8. On soft tires, Alonso jumped two places in the early laps to run ahead of the Frenchman, while Hadjar struggled with lingering engine issues.Alonso’s race turned on lap 28, when a slow 9.2-second pit stop dropped him back to 15th and behind Hadjar, who had already pitted for mediums. Closing the gap, the Spaniard caught the Racing Bulls driver by lap 37. What followed was a two-lap scrap that cost Alonso time but delivered plenty of drama.Hadjar defended hard despite his car’s lack of straight-line speed. Alonso passed him on the DRS zone with a move down the inside into Turn 18, only for the Racing Bulls No. 6 to claw the position back on the main straight. A second wheel-to-wheel fight into Turn 1 saw Alonso regain the spot, prompting his sarcastic remark:"Trophy for hero of the race"Speaking after the race, Isack Hadjar stood his ground (via Motorsport.com):"I mean, I didn't push him off the track. I kept it clean. If he didn't enjoy that fight, then he's really grumpy and there's nothing I can do for him."Despite losing out to Fernando Alonso, the Frenchman’s defense helped shape the midfield order. Both drivers gained ground as others cycled through pit stops, with Alonso settling into eighth and Isack Hadjar into 10th by the closing laps.A post-race penalty for Lewis Hamilton promoted Alonso to seventh and Hadjar to ninth at the flag.Fernando Alonso doubles down on Isack Hadjar’s drivingFernando Alonso (14) leads Isack Hadjar (6) during the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore. Source: GettyFernando Alonso later explained his side of the battle, conceding Isack Hadjar’s engine problems had slowed him down but criticizing the risks taken. The Spaniard believed the risks taken were not required and could have derailed the races for both."I think he had a little bit of an engine problem, from what I understood. On the straights, he was slow. Sometimes, some battles you need to know when it's better to fight, when it's not, because probably the final result of the race could be worse for both for sure, but for him in particular. So yeah, I think some unnecessary risk, but I understand that this is Singapore and you need to fight hard, and he did his best," Alonso said via Motorsport.When asked about his 'grumpy' comments, Alonso buried the hatchet."Well, some movements at 300km/h are a little bit borderline in Singapore, but everyone races as they want and there was no contact, nothing like that, so everything is fine," he added.The result added another twist to the midfield fight. Racing Bulls lead Aston Martin in the constructors’ standings with 72 points to 68, while Hadjar also sits ahead of Alonso in the drivers’ table, 39 to 36.At the front, George Russell scored the win in Singapore, while Isack Hadjar’s teammate Liam Lawson endured a weekend to forget after a qualifying crash left him 15th. Formula 1 now heads across the Atlantic for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.