Grosjean: Ricciardo couldn't be avoided

Romain Grosjean experienced a nightmare weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix even though the Frenchman showed superb pace during free practice. After his accident during the last free practice session, the Lotus driver only qualified in 13th position after being slowed down by Daniel Ricciardo. After losing a place at the start following a great surge in Valtteri Bottas, the Frenchman remained in the pilot's wheels Toro Rosso throughout the race before hitting his car at the exit of the Tunnel. The stewards delivered their verdict: ten penalty places for the French driver on the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix contested on June 9.

However, the resident of the stableenstone denies being responsible for the collision by asserting that it was not possible for him to avoid Daniel Ricciardo who had braked prematurely. “Daniel seemed to be struggling with his rear tires, they looked like they had a lot of graining. I followed him for almost 61 laps, but was surprised by his early braking in the middle of the circuit and had nowhere to go. It's a frustrating end to the weekend for me, but the hardest part happened in qualifying where I missed Q3. It was again with Daniel who slowed me down, but it was clearly not my intention to finish the race in the back of his car. »

Discover the analysis of the Monaco Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.