Romain Grosjean will have to put an end to this negative spiral
Romain Grosjean found himself in the eye of the storm in 2012 for being the cause - or victim - of numerous accidents. After a rather calm start to the 2013 season, the Frenchman regained his pace starting from the Bahrain Grand Prix, but he also seems to have rediscovered his troubles: the retirements despite the support of his manager, Eric Boullier.
Pilot in reconstruction at the beginning of this season, Romain Grosjean knew he could no longer afford mistakes after a season marked by numerous collisions.
Regularly in the points during the first three races of the season, the Frenchman secured a podium in Bahrain where he achieved performances close to his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen. According to our consistency ranking, Romain Grosjean even appeared in 4th position after the Bahrain Grand Prix, indicating definite progress. For reference, his teammate was then in second place.
Nevertheless, since the Spanish Grand Prix, a completely different situation has emerged. After retiring from the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago due to a suspension failure while on his way to a podium finish, the Frenchman must once again face a retirement this weekend in Monaco, caused by a notable accident with Daniel Ricciardo.
The French driver had previously hit the rail several times in the Sainte-Dévote turn during free practice. On Sunday, he couldn’t avoid touching Ricciardo, causing both drivers to retire. The Lotus driver, who thought he wasn’t mainly responsible for the accident as Ricciardo slowed down earlier than in other laps, was disheartened at the end of the Grand Prix and eager to start fresh at the Canadian Grand Prix. However, he will have to deal with a 10-place grid penalty, as the FIA deemed him responsible for the collision with Ricciardo.
In two Grand Prix races, the consequences for Romain Grosjean are not only moral but also sporting, as he falls far down in the drivers’ championship standings. He is only in 9th place in the official FIA ranking, but even more challenging, he drops to 11th place in the consistency ranking presented by casinoenlignefrance.eu.com, losing seven positions in two races…
Eric Boullier – the head of the Lotus team – nevertheless expressed his confidence in the Frenchman, mentioning upcoming discussions to help him manage the frustration felt this weekend in Monaco: “I am going to sit down with him and talk about this weekend. In fact, it’s a bit of the same story, especially in Monaco. He has a very good pace, and that’s what’s even more frustrating for him. Thursday’s accident didn’t help, but the rest of the weekend went from bad to worse.”
Ricciardo was the black cat for the Frenchman throughout the weekend, already forcing him to stop in Q2 during the qualifiers, hindered by the Toro Rosso: « This feeling of frustration is all the more intense since it was already Ricciardo who had hampered his progress in qualifying, resulting in only qualifying 13th. We just need to calm things down and discuss together once back at the factory. »
Eric Boullier continues to emphasize that Romain Grosjean’s mistakes in Monaco are and will remain exceptional. It’s not a problem, he did a good job this winter and corrected the issues from last year. It’s just a frustrating weekend when we know he’s fast. He just needs to remember this weekend as one where he was fast and capable of delivering good results. He did it in Bahrain and could have done it in Spain. He must not get discouraged and come back on track with real motivations.
Romain Grosjean can also continue to count on the support of his partners like Total, which involves him in many of its communications.
