Romain Grosjean has apologised to Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly for the first-lap collision in Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix which eliminated the trio.
From tenth on the grid, Grosjean lost control of the Haas F1 Team car at Turn 3, and kept his foot on the throttle, speering back across the track, into the on-coming traffic.
Both Hülkenberg and Gasly were unable to avoid the Haas, ending the race for both the Renault Sport Formula One Team and Red Bull Toro Rosso-Honda drivers.
Grosjean was later hit with a three-place grid penalty by the stewards for the Monaco Grand Prix, after his second non-finish in as a many races.
Speaking after the race he said: “There’s not much to say. I lost the rear end in turn three and I just spun.
“If you look at the footage, I had wanted to avoid contact with my team-mate.” – Grosjean was behind Kevin Magnussen going into Turn 3, with the Danish driver picking up a flash of mid-corner oversteer, while behind another car, which forced Grosjean to react.
“Kevin had a bit of a wobble, and then the car just went,” explained the Frenchman. “I’m sorry for the others that were involved – there was not much I could do once the car went.”
Solid points for Magnussen
While Grosjean continued his pointless start to the campaign, Magnussen benefited from Kimi Räikkönen’s retirement to finish in sixth place and score eight points for the American team.
“Kevin had a good race, which is good for the team,” said a dejected Grosjean. “I had wanted a steady race, but that wasn’t today.”
Grosjean’s second successive retirement, and third of the season leaves him in 19th place in the drivers’ standings, one of two drivers yet to score a point so far, the other being Sergey Sirotkin.
Magnussen’s haul of points was good enough to move Haas up to sixth in the constructors’ standings on 19 points, moving the team above both Sahara Force India F1 Team and Toro Rosso.
