Grosjean: Sirotkin was go-kart driving
- Published on 17 Sep 2018 15:08
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Romain Grosjean has accused Sergey Sirotkin of "go-kart driving" during the Singapore Grand Prix. The two were involved in a tight scrap when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen came up to lap them.
Grosjean was found guilty of not obeying the blue flags in time, as he waited until he overtook Sirotkin to let the leaders through. Formula 1's race director Charlie Whiting described the incident as one of the worst cases he's seen in the sport.
Hamilton lost multiple seconds to Verstappen, who closed right in on the Briton who was sitting behind the backmarkers. Grosjean received two penalty points for the incident and is now just three points away from a race ban. However, he has pinned the blamed Sirotkin's driving tactics.
"I’m sorry if I blocked anyone, it was not my intention,” said Grosjean. “I believe I did my best. I was fighting with Sergey, who was doing a little bit of go-kart racing out there. I couldn’t really slow down. Pierre [Gasly] was on my gearbox and Sergey was on my front wing. I passed him, then as soon as I passed him, I let Lewis by.”
Grosjean also received a five-second time penalty for his antics, which dropped him to P15 in the final classification. Haas team boss Guenther Steiner says that Grosjean suffered from starting on the hyper soft tyre as he advanced into the final qualifying session.
“If you have to start on these tyres, and the other ones are so much superior, if you qualify outside of the top 10 you have such an advantage. Then we got stuck behind the Williams, which didn’t move out of the way, one thing went to another, and that’s where we ended up.”
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Replies (7)
Login to replyFreguz
Posts: 160
What does “Go-kart driving” mean?
If you drive defensively and try to keep the opponent behind you, within the regulations, isn’t that just “driving”?
F1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
No, in the current F1 if the car behind you is from a faster team, you have to make room and "move out of the way". This is called racing today. Defending positions is stupid and dangerous. Steiner said, Sirotkin is always slow. He probably doesn't move out of the way like he should. He is new and doesn't know the rules yet.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Wide, swaying, immature driving, I think. And defending in an inappopriate way. IMO, Sirotkin was sorta close to it. But I cant really blame him. He is in the worst car on the grid, the only chance he had was to push to the limits. 'sides, Romain "he hit me" Grosjean shouldnt talk about immature driving...
Bhurt
Posts: 320
Grosjean blaming someone else for his idiocy? I don't believe it.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Romain "He hit me" Grosjean ... classic .. great nickname.
Let's hope that KMAG returns back to form.
Freguz
Posts: 160
It could also have been Ericsson's fault.
websurfer
Posts: 52
Sergey Sirotkin was just showing splendid defensive driving skills within the regulations. He did show his skills for a long time. Naturally blue ligth must be respected, that's another discussion.