Yes, Cosi, I agree, I doubt he deliberately tried to cause such an accident but what the hell was Romain thinking when he did that? It beggars belief.
Cosi... I may be reading some of what you put in the wrong manner and I'm not sure I understood it correctly. Surely risk has always been a big factor in F1 and in reality risky moves are more punishable now than they have ever been. A bit of squeezing is fair play to me and shouldn't be punishable nor deterred. I'd hate to get to a point where penalties are dealt out for perceived dangerous driving without incident... I think we'd lose what makes F1 so amazing.
In my opinion the ban was justified. Although I agree with the comments made regarding Maldonado. The only other crashes in recent times that I can think of that have come that close to actually killing a driver are Massa' Hungary 09 and Schumacher/Liuzzi Abu Dhabi 10 (maybe Webber/Heikki if Webber had landed upstair down and gone into the barriers). Obviously all 3 of the incidents centred around a head being impacted directly, with the previous 2 being completely unavoidable. F1 cars are so well designed to withstand a conventional crash that there is a risk drivers become complacent. Behaving like Grosjean did today has become all to common, even more experienced drivers are guilty of it. Rosberg vs Alonso, Schumacher vs Barrichello. People complain that the stewards are too involved now. I would argue, as Alonso has said before, that drivers today lack respect. Drivers of old knew a mistake, personally I don't think what happened today can be labelled as a 'racing incident', could lead to death. Because of todays safety standards that risk is far lower. Then we see an incident like todays and we see that if a driver is rash and dangerous someone could still die. Without the fear of death keeping drivers in line, something else has to. I think the ban is as much to do with sending a message as it is punishing the mistake. Although I'm sure some will argue if thats the case why hasn't Maldo been banned, and to you I say - you're right! But that's another topic altogether. :] Besides Grosjean and his team have accepted the ruling and aren't planning to protest.
Grosjean: "I did a mistake and I misjudged the gap with Lewis. I was sure I was in front of him. So a small mistake made a big incident. I didn't change my line, I went from left to right. I was not really wanting to put anyone in the wall - I'm not here to stop the race in the first corner. I'm very, very sorry and I'm glad that nobody is hurt."
I agree that risk has always been a big factor. My point was that it has become progressively less regarded as such. I also agree that "a bit of squeezing" as you put it, may be "fair play" in some circumstances; however, I do not regard this incident as such for the reasons outlined earlier â in particular, the fact that he had at least as much space as any other driver, on approach to one of the most dangerous Turn 1 braking zones in motor racing. My criticism is aimed at Grosjean for not appreciating something essential to a professional driver's armoury: respect and appreciation of the circumstances. Landen: I have not previously seen you in the forum and I should say that I like the way you present your points.
Oh I'm not disagreeing that Grosjean was a numb nuts, Cosi... He totally was. I'm just not sure that the blame can be laid at the foot of other drivers pulling risky moves. That wasn't a risky move, It was total brain fade.
Good man Romain. (And thanks for posting this, Forza). Few people are capable of such a genuine and complete apology. This is truly admirable. Grosjean is a decent guy. What he did was incompetent but not done in malice. This is where I feel that some of the antics from the past should have been dealt with far more severely.
Aye... Good lad. I can't help but feel a little sorry for him. Put it behind ya now..move on. No harm done... Unless Alonso misses out on the title by a handful of points, then you might get a swift kick in the goolies.
It just goes to show the FIA's selective vision. Grosjean comes across as a nice guy, who wouldn't harm someone on purpose. Maldo has blatantly harmed Perez this season on purpose, yet got away with it. Whatever happened to consistency?
Total brain fade can result in a very risky move. I do not for one minute feel that what Grosjean did was deliberate; simply that his appreciation of the circumstances was inconsistent with what is expected at this level. Killing someone through one's actions is a crime, regardless of intent. Manslaughter is rightly a lesser crime than murder; nonetheless, it should be punished more than stealing a loaf of bread. Under the circumstances, Grosjean's actions were unacceptable: he caused an avoidable accident in one of the most dangerous of all places, and had acres of space to avoid it, yet did not demonstrate the necessary awareness.
If you watch the replay closer... When Maldonado jumps the start, he drops a banana skin which triggers the whole thing.
Yes. Agreed. As I said earlier, it is a great shame that there is such a perception of inconsistency. My belief is that certain precedents were set long ago through not being properly (or adequately) dealt with, which has in part lead to a distortion of what is acceptable.
Thanks, often read but rarely post. :] Spot on. 7 first lap incidents out of 11 is a worrying stat, Grosjean of all people should be erring on the side of caution. I've always liked Grosjean, he seems like a well mannered down to earth kind of guy. I'm glad he has handled the aftermath in the way that he has, who knows perhaps this incident coupled with the ban could be the kick he needs to get himself sorted. I'm also very impressed with how Alonso reacted, very calm and collected - though you wouldnt expect anything less really.
The incident was caused by the back of Lewis's left front being hit by the front of Grosjean's right rear. So either Lewis was slowing down, Lewis was deliberately not accelerating as fast as possible, or Grosjean was accelerating at a faster rate than Lewis was capable of at that point. Given that Lewis was being squeezed, none of those possibilities are his fault. Taking into consideration his proximity to the wall (that grass is a car width if you're going perfectly straight, which Hamilton wouldn't have been) Hamilton's only options were to try and match Grosjean's pace, praying that he would pull left, or to veer right without decelerating (a drop in pace would still have resulted in contact with Grosjean). Risking a shunt into the wall could have resulted in debris flying off of his car with half the pack in the immediate vicinity, which might have meant a Massa-type injury. Weighing up all of that, I don't think the stewards had an option but to ban Grosjean. If there was any way Hamilton could have gotten out of it without causing an accident, a reprimand for Lewis and a grid drop for Roman would have done the trick, but Grosjean definitely chopped Lewis, definitely had the option not to, and while there is a small chance that Hamilton could have avoided Grosjean, at that point a serious incident involving multiple cars was inevitable. Had Grosjean got through the incident unscathed in second or third place, I think he would have been black flagged, which is essentially the same thing as a ban. I am Maldonado's single biggest critic. But the reason I have called for him to be banned is for consistent dangerous manouevres, where the risk was likely to be confined to his car and one other. This ban is about one particularly dangerous move, where the fallout was inevitably going to endanger four or five drivers, plus a particularly high risk to people in close proximity to the track. I think it's wrong that Maldonado hasn't been banned yet, but two wrongs don't make a right.
I do like Grosjean but todays incident was inexcusable. it wasn't reckless but it was negligent, which some may see as worse but there we go. I hope he gets a chance to come back and make amends with results as I fear this one race ban could be extended by the team as a way of getting a new driver in.
