Grosjean doesn’t find Pérez “dangerous”
When asked about the case of Sergio Pérez, accused by Felipe Massa of being a "dangerous" driver after their incident during the Canadian GP, Romain Grosjean reflected on his own situation and his evolution in F1 since 2012.
In the context of the incident between Sergio Pérez and Felipe Massa at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix, and especially the exchange of pleasantries between the two camps, with the Brazilian going as far as to label the Mexican – deemed responsible – as a dangerous driver, Romain Grosjean spoke out, referring to his own situation during the 2012 season.
For *Autosport*, the Franco-Swiss explains that one must know how to hear criticism and use it to bounce back: « If you want to progress, you have to accept the blame. When you have a bad day in the car, you have to look at what you could have done better and start from scratch. Just because you receive criticism doesn’t mean you can’t trust people or work with them. Criticism is only there to help you move forward. »
The criticism, the Lotus driver knows it better than anyone: at the end of the 2012 season, after causing a pile-up at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, he was banned for one race, and the criticisms against him multiplied, reaching a peak after the Japanese Grand Prix when Mark Webber, with whom he had collided, dubbed him “The first-lap nutcase.”
« In my case, I mostly made bad decisions at key moments. There isn’t much difference between doing well and doing poorly, » he explains, before discussing the work he has undertaken with a specialist to overcome his demons: « I just had to work, which I did with my psychologist, and we are still working hard. »
His obsession with victory, which he glimpsed several times during the 2012 season—in Canada or Valencia, for instance—made him forget the essential: « I just needed to have the right goal [in mind]. At one point, all I wanted to do was win a race, so from the starting grid to the first corner to the checkered flag, I wanted to win. I wasn’t focused enough on the right option. »
His future in the discipline was even weighed at the time of his contract renewal at the end of 2012, and also at the beginning of the 2013 season, after the Monaco Grand Prix where he lost control of his Lotus and hit Daniel Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso. « It was certainly not the best time of my F1 career. You need to have a lot of mental strength to get on the grid when everyone is criticizing you. »
Regarding the supposed dangerous nature of Sergio Pérez, Romain Grosjean is not critical and does not share Felipe Massa’s point of view: « Everyone has their perspective on the incident between Pérez and Massa. So far, I haven’t had major problems with Sergio this year. I don’t think anyone is too dangerous. »
