Grosjean criticized by Webber and Button but supported by Boullier

Author, by his own admission, of a stupid accident at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean not only drew the ire of the stewards who issued him a “Stop and Go,” increasingly rare in Formula One, but more importantly, he exhausted the patience of his fellow competitors, starting with Mark Webber, his victim of the day: “I obviously didn’t see what happened at the start, but the guys confirmed to me that it was the first-lap nutcase Grosjean again,” said the Australian after the race. “The rest of us are trying to fight for good results every weekend but he’s trying to get to the third corner as quickly as he can in every race. It’s frustrating because some of the big names probably suffered from it and maybe he needs some more time off. […] It was completely his fault. How many times can you make the same mistake? It’s rather embarrassing at this level.”

According to *Auto Motor und Sport*, Mark Webber reportedly took Romain Grosjean aside to give him a piece of his mind: “Look me in the eyes, Romain! If you keep this up, you won’t be around for long,” the Australian supposedly said.

But Romain Grosjean’s ears aren’t going to stop ringing anytime soon. Indeed, Jenson Button hesitates: « Is it up to Formula One to do something or should he just really think it through to sort out his mess, because that’s what he needs to do? He is fast and very talented in terms of speed and results, but we can’t go on like this. We saw a lot of this in GP2 with him: he was so fast, annihilating all competition and leading the championship by a wide margin, but he kept having accidents. He either wins or crashes: he seems to have the same philosophy in Formula One. He needs to change his views, » reports The Sun.

The drivers are not the only ones criticizing the Frenchman, as some team managers are also not mincing their words: « Let’s hope he thinks carefully after this accident or his team needs to put him under more control, » says Christian Horner, director of the Red Bull team. « He is obviously a fast driver, but so many accidents at this level are unacceptable. He needs to reflect or his team must talk to him, because not only is it dangerous for others, but it costs him and his team a colossal number of points, as well as his “victims. »

But what concerns the Briton the most is that Romain Grosjean does not seem to learn from his repeated incidents: « The most important thing when you make a mistake is to learn from it, and I think the most disappointing part is that the accidents keep happening and they have cost Mark dearly, as well as Hamilton or Alonso at Spa, and many other drivers this year. The most worrying part is that he doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes. »

Thus, according to Helmut Marko, the penalty – a 10-second stop and go – imposed on the Genevan is not appropriate […] especially with his background. But Niki Lauda, rarely the last to cast a stone, also adds his little comment by describing the Frenchman as crazy, according to the agency SID: “If he cannot learn, he must be banned again and this time for more than one race.” For Johnny Herbert, the sanction should primarily come from Lotus: “The team should say bye-bye to him!”

Such, however, does not seem to be the intentions of Lotus, although Eric Boullier believes, in Autosport, that he has done everything necessary and considers that the ball is now in his driver’s court: « I’ve discussed a lot with him. We’ve changed the routine, tried to make the situation less comfortable for him because I need a tougher environment for him and I need to push him to his limits, but only he and no one else can fix that. He needs to find the solution himself […]. He must find the right balance. He can do it, but no one can do it for him. »

The director of the Lotus team still has full confidence in his protégé: « I think Grosjean has the advantage of being talented and that he has a car fast enough to qualify at the front. If you look at his career, he has always been a bit high-strung until he finds confidence, but one is not as patient in Formula One as in the junior series. As we saw at Spa, it was a spectacular accident, it could have been dramatic, and we cannot accept that. In Japan, it wasn’t a matter of settings, it was about trying to restore the kid’s self-confidence so he approaches the start with calm and control, and that’s what we’ve been trying to do since the start of the year. We accelerated this program since Spa, and in terms of timing, it’s unfortunate that there was another accident. »

But Eric Boullier believes that Romain Grosjean’s rivals, who are mostly seasoned veterans of the discipline now, do not make the task any easier for the Frenchman by trying to take advantage of his position of weakness: « If you look at the start in Japan, he doesn’t change lanes and that’s something we had planned: if we start from the right side of the track, we stay there. In Singapore, he had a rather hectic start, not because of him but because of the other drivers who knew he was under pressure and hoped he would give in. » Indeed, even before the Singapore Grand Prix, Mark Webber, questioned about the Frenchman’s return after his suspension, played the intimidator: « He knows I have a good right hook, so he’s going to stay away from me. But if he touches me, he’d better run, » the Australian said with a smile.

Today, Eric Boullier believes, however, that Grosjean did the right thing at the start: « Here, I told him to keep his line, not to tempt fate, and not to touch or be too close to others: that’s what he did! He saw Pérez next to him and tried to keep his distance but perhaps lacked a bit of judgment with Webber because there was a certain speed difference while they were both [with Pérez, note] faster than Webber.

But Romain Grosjean found another ally in the person of Gary Anderson, former technical director of the Jordan team and columnist for the BBC: « Yes, it was the eighth early race incident Grosjean was involved in, in 14 races, but I think we need to take a step back. Grosjean’s accident wasn’t the only one on the first lap at Suzuka. His teammate took out Fernando Alonso by touching his rear wheel. I think there was so much pressure on Grosjean not to crash after his suspension that he ended up in an accident. Sometimes you try too hard to avoid things. He is not free and relaxed. » And the Northern Irishman added: « I’m not defending him, but it’s very easy to fall on a driver’s back in this kind of position. »