Grosjean to serve three-place grid penalty in Monte Carlo
Tuesday 11 December 2018 12:46, UK
Romain Grosjean will serve a three-place grid penalty at the Monaco GP for triggering the opening-lap crash at the Spanish GP which forced himself, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly to retire.
Grosjean lost control of his Haas around the outside of Turn Three when attempting to pass team-mate Kevin Magnussen and created a fog of smoke as he careered across the track.
Unsighted, Renault's Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso's Gasly smashed into the stricken Haas with all three cars suffering extensive damage, although all the drivers escaped unhurt.
The Barcelona stewards deemed Grosjean made the wrong decision to try and correct his spin on track and handed him the three-place grid demotion for the race in Monaco, which is live on Sky F1 from May 24-27.
Hamilton dominates as Ferrari suffer
Lewis: Win can be turning point
The Frenchman also had two penalty points applied to his super licence, taking him to five for the 12-month period.
Explaining the crash to Sky F1, Grosjean said: "I lost the rear end of the car and I tried to put it back as long as I could but it just didn't work.
"I don't think there was much I could do. If I had braked, the car would have slid the same way. I tried to stay on the throttle to spin it to try not and face other people. It didn't work but I don't think there was anything different.
"It's a human reflex if you look at Rosberg in 2016 and Schumacher in 2010. If I had braked I would have stayed in the middle [of the track] and it would have been the same thing. Unfortunately once the car started going forwards again onto the track, it was very difficult."
The FIA's verdict in full
"The stewards reviewed video evidence and heard from the driver of car 8, Romain Grosjean and the team representative.
"Car 8 was following Car 20 at the exit of Turn 2 when Car 20 had a momentary loss of control. Car 8 avoided Car 20 which caused him to lose control of the car to the left of the track at the entry to Turn 3.
Vettel defends Ferrari strategy
'Verstappen starts new chapter'
"The driver explained to the stewards that he felt that his momentum was going to carry him to the centre of the track, and therefore made the decision to apply power in an attempt to cross to the right side of the track and get out of the way of the cars behind.
"However, while crossing he moved into the line of Cars 27 and Car 10, and all three cars were involved in a collision that took them out of the race.
"The driver stated to the stewards that he made the decision to cross the track, trying to avoid the other cars and that he felt this was his best option.
"The stewards found that while it is speculation as to where the driver's car would have ended up had he chosen other alternatives, it is certain that while crossing the track in front of the following pack of cars, which he chose to do, that a collision occurred.
"Further, in reviewing the video, the stewards found that the car was following the line on the left side of the track and was almost fully off the track, when he made the decision to cross it.
"The stewards therefore chose to penalise the driver."
