Grosjean: Even Alonso wasn’t mad at me
21 September, 2012
Romain Grosjean walks the Marina Bay Street Circuit
Sep.21 (GMM) Romain Grosjean on Thursday was struggling to put his one-race ban behind him, and claimed that drivers, including championship leader Fernando Alonso have not been overtly critical of the Spa shunt which he triggered.
The Frenchman duly sat out Monza as his punishment for causing the first corner crash at Spa, and returns to full competitive action this weekend in Singapore.
But the past is not letting him be, as his every engagement with the media since Spa 19 days ago had had the FIA ban as the headline topic.
Grosjean thinks it’s a beat-up.
“Most of the other drivers were not very critical of me,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, “even though the consequences of the accident were, of course, very large.”
He is referring to the fact that championship leaders Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were taken out.
But he insists: “Even Alonso wasn’t mad at me. In my view he is a great champion.”
Grosjean had less to say about McLaren’s Hamilton, who reportedly ignored the Lotus driver when – although banned – he still attended the drivers’ briefing at Monza.
He said he has learned his lesson, even though he thinks the penalty was “very hard”.
So will he be extra careful at the start on Sunday?
“It’s more complex than that,” said Grosjean. “It’s hard to find the right balance and make the right decisions.
“People forget that this is really my first year in Formula Oine, and I’m always fighting in the top ten. That’s not as easy as when you start at the back of the field.”
Subbed by AJN.
Related posts:
- Grosjean: It is not pleasant to come to Monza and not race
- Alonso: Grosjean apologised in an SMS
- Grosjean gets one race ban for causing crash and will miss Monza
- Photos: Start mayhem eliminates Alonso, Hamilton, Grosjean and Perez
- Grosjean is a potential grand prix winner says Alonso
Grosjean is a Moron among morons. ALL the drivers are regarding his premature return to the grid with trepidation. NO ONE wants to be near him — especially at the start!
dream on! you must be from another planet romain french fries head! are you that thickskinned?
@ Speedo, He shouldn’t be angry it would only distract his focus on the WDC.
I think any racer would be upset/disappointed that he DNF regardless if he has a lead in the WDC or if he was Charles Pic in the back. No racer likes to crash. Ever.
If Fernando “didn’t say anything” doesn’t mean he’s not mad. Maybe he thought it was pointless if he went to scream in Romain’s face. What’s happened is done.
@Speedo
Wrong. Alonso had qualified better and was third at the first corner when hit by GRO/HAM from behind. HAM did furthermore not have as fast a car that week-end (see tweet from HAM…). If anything, ALO was going to increase his lead, at least compared to HAM.
alonso might not be but his fans are mad at you…i thought this guy had potential…
Grosjean needs to stop doing that s*hit if he wants to keep his F1 license, because if he pulls another Spa this season they may just throw him out.
Be careful, young Romain,
Why should Alonso who had a good lead in the WDC be mad at Grosjean as he also took out Hamilton. But on the other hand Lewis is mad because he could not reduce the lead on Alonso and increase on the points tally on Kimi and Vettel. It is just one point difference between 2nd, 3rd and 4th. How close can it get.
@Butterfly
Obviously what he is saying is not that. By only mentioning ALO and clearly omitting HAM, when saying “Even Alonso… In my view he is a great champion.”, he want to say HAM is not.
I think he is smart enough to realize, even though ALO took it like a man, he had every right to be much more angry…
all pay drivers are idiot!!
Sure, Romain, Alonso was actually very supportive of you crashing into people at the start of races. I’m starting to think this guy is an idiot.