Former F1 driver Romain Grosjean – who survived a horror smash in 2020 – FUMES after being crashed into on the opening lap of his latest IndyCar race: ‘Who is going to pay for the damage?’
- Romain Grosjean was furious after a crash during the IndyCar in California
- Former F1 driver was furious during his interview and asked who will pay for the damage
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Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean was furious with IndyCar’s exhibition $1 million thermal challenge on Sunday after being hit on the opening lap of the first heat race.
Just minutes after the first heat started on the 17-turn, 3.067-mile race track, Scott Dixon ran into the back of Grosjean.
It caused the Frenchman to spin wildly into Rinus VeeKay, who then cut off Christian Lundgaard. Dixon received an avoidable contact penalty while Grosjean, who moved to IndyCar from Formula 1, seethed.
“I mean, who’s going to pay for the damage? We come here with no points on the line and we’re not doing anything wrong and the car is completely destroyed,” Grosjean said angrily after walking from his crashed car along the private road course back to the pit lane.
“This is not what I signed up for with IndyCar.”
Romain Grosjean was furious after crashing at the last IndyCar event in California
Just minutes after the first heat started, Scott Dixon crashed into the back of the French driver
It saw former F1 driver Rinus VeeKay, who cut off Christian Lundgaard
The 37-year-old made his IndyCar debut in 2021 after nine full seasons in F1. He escaped a fiery crash in Bahrain towards the end of the 2020 season, which nearly killed him and also ended his F1 career.
The 37-year-old made his IndyCar debut in 2021 after nine full seasons in F1
Grosjean is in his first season with Juncos Hollinger Racing – Grosjean’s third team in four years – and the small organization does not have the same operating budget as the top IndyCar teams.
The French-Swiss former Formula 1 driver spent one season in IndyCar with the small Dale Coyne Racing before earning a chance at Andretti Global.
He spent two difficult seasons with Andretti, and his run ended when Grosjean and the team personnel shouted at each other at the end of a qualifying session.
Andretti opted not to renew Grosjean’s contract and he joined JHR. The Juncos team expanded to two cars last season to accommodate Argentinian driver Agustin Canapino.
Grosjean has been winless for three seasons and finished 13th in the IndyCar standings last year ahead of Andretti. He had consecutive second-place finishes at Long Beach and Barber Motorsports Park, but his season performance declined dramatically after the Indianapolis 500.
He escaped a fiery crash in Bahrain at the end of the 2020 season that nearly killed him
In 2020, Grosjean was lucky to survive a horrific crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He was going 120 mph (199 km/h) when he hit a metal guardrail and his car exploded in a fireball around him.
The impact was estimated at 67Gs, a force equivalent to 67 times his body weight. For comparison, heavy braking in an F1 car produces about 6 Gs.
The French driver made an astonishing escape from the raging furnace.
Grosjean’s Haas car cut in half after entering the barrier and quickly caught fire. He was trapped in the cockpit for 27 seconds before clambering out and pulling his stuck foot out of his racing boot to do so.
He suffered only minor burns to the backs of his hands and a sprained left ankle, and was released from hospital shortly afterwards.
The crash happened on the first lap when the right rear wheel of his car hit the left front wheel of Russian driver Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri as he tried to pass from the left to the right side of the Sakhir circuit.
The ring-shaped halo device at the front of Grosjean’s cockpit protected his head by withstanding the massive impact, and he believed it saved his life.