Romain Grosjean has been slammed as “borderline out of his depth in Formula 1” following his questionable defensive driving at the British Grand Prix.
The Haas driver was issued a formal warning by the stewards after almost causing two massive crashes with Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo as he moved across the track just as those drivers were committing to overtakes.
After the race, Grosjean ignored the criticism though did suggest he was “sorry” if he did anything wrong and then later explained his actions were inspired was Max Verstappen’s approach of several years ago.
“In both cases, I moved a little bit late, but I always left a car width,” said the Frenchman.
“They [the stewards] wanted to clarify the fact that we cannot move that late, which I agree with, but there were no real rules beforehand and Max used it a lot during his racing so I thought ‘Why not? Why not take advantage of that’.
“It is not every day we are running sixth or seventh in the race and I did everything I could to defend.”
Grosjean pulls another late defensive swerve on Ricciardo this time! A shame to see him regress to doing some of the driving he’s been memed for in the past. #BritishGP https://t.co/nFOfRf1kQM pic.twitter.com/GaZOhdlWYq
— iGP Manager (@iGPManager) August 2, 2020
Grosjean’s moves drew less than happy responses from Sainz and Ricciardo, with the McLaren driver calling them “very dangerous” while the Aussie used the word “sketchy” over the radio.
However, former Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who famously once called Romain a “first-lap nutcase” pulled no punches in his criticism.
“I think Grosjean has a gross misunderstanding of what current Grand Prix racing is all about in terms of wheel-to-wheel combat,” he told Channel 4.
“He is moving around very late in defending. He is saying he is leaving a car’s width on the inside, which technically he is, but this weaving in the middle of the road at high speed…he has got to be even further across to show his intention earlier.
“He’s mentioned how Max Verstappen was [doing so] in the past, but that is in the past, we have moved on.
“He’s the chairman of the GPDA. He should know the rules.
“For me, Grosjean is borderline out of his depth in Formula 1.”
