Webber vents anger and disbelief at Grosjean

Mark Webber has become the latest driver to fall foul of Romain Grosjean’s knack of colliding with other competitors at the start of a race, after the Frenchman drove into the side of the Red Bull of Webber at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix. The Aussie was understandably furious, dubbing Grosjean a “nutcase” after the race.

Once Mark Webber had finished the Japanese Grand Prix a distant 9th after initially starting 2nd alongside team-mate Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull driver was quick to vent his anger and disbelief at such poor driving from the Lotus of Grosjean. Throughout the season, Grosjean has been involved in seven first lap incidents at Malaysia, Spain, Monaco, Britain, Germany, Belgium and now Japan.

"I haven’t obviously seen what happened at the start but the guys confirmed that it was the first-lap nutcase again Grosjean," explained Mark Webber to Sky Sport F1’s Natalie Pinkham. “The rest of us are trying to fight for some decent results each weekend but he is trying to get to the third corner as fast as he can at every race. It makes it frustrating because a few big guys probably suffered from that and maybe he needs another holiday. He needs to have a look at himself, it was completely his fault. How many mistakes can you make, how many times can you make the same error? First-lap incidents... yeah... it’s quite embarrassing at this level for him."

Romain Grosjean was issued with a one-race ban after his almighty incident with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix. Upon making his return to the sport at the Singapore Grand Prix, the Frenchman has explained how he has been very cautious at the starts, however Mark Webber believes another ban should be issued if these first-lap incidents continue.

"Ever since I came back in Singapore my priority has been to be very cautious at the start, and I was watching Sergio on my left to make sure there was no contact with him.” Explained a downcast Romain Grosjean after the race, “There was quite a big speed difference between me and Mark as I came into the first corner which caught me by surprise and we collided. It was a stupid mistake. Mark came to see me after the race and was obviously not happy, but I apologized and we have to move on.”

After the first-lap incident at Japan, the race stewards decided to impose a 10-second stop-and-go penalty upon the Frenchman, which dropped him right to the back of the order. Eventually Grosjean retired from the race in the closing laps, with the team deciding to call it a day after a disastrous race and the fact that that tyres come to the end of their life. The Frenchman will be hoping for an incident-free Korean Grand Prix this weekend, as question marks begin to surface over his future in Formula 1.

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