Grosjean: “I found myself in the air”

Romain Grosjean et Daniel Ricciardo were the first drivers to retire at the Russian GP. The pilot Haas and the resident of Renault sandwiched theAlfa Romeo by Antonio Giovinazzi in the first round. While the R.S.19 suffered a puncture which would later lead to the Australian's retirement, the Haas found itself propelled into the air before ending up in the tire wall.

“I had an average start and found myself in the air in turn 4, explained the former GP2 champion, quoted on the official F1 website. I just want to punch the walls. We were finally competitive here. We had a lot of pressure to do something good this weekend. We had been good the day before and the car looked promising for the race. »

There was not enough room for all of you!

Antonio Giovinazzi found himself in a Romain Grosjean and Daniel Ricciardo sandwich!#RussianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/9xvbmHz7Zv

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 29, 2019

Daniel Ricciardo also talks about the suddenness of the accident and his inability to react, having not finished in the points since the Italian GP at Monza.

“I expected Grosjean to defend a bit but he left it open and it was pretty safe for me to engage, commented the Renault driver. I then saw the Alfa Romeo coming and we found ourselves three abreast and I knew then that it wasn't going to do it... My flat bottom was damaged and I had a puncture. We tried to continue, but the damage was too great to still have any rhythm. I tell myself that I would have had less bad luck by starting higher on the grid. I take my share of responsibility, but I was a passenger in this accident. »

The stewards considered that the collision was a simple racing incident and did not sanction the drivers involved.

Discover the analysis of the Russian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2236 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.