Grosjean Responds ⇥ formula1.com

Romain Grosjean began the Belgian Grand Prix today by crashing into Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren before the first corner, and sending three others into the wall. Huge mistake on his part, but at least he’s taking responsibility:

“I honestly thought I was ahead of him and there was enough room for both cars; I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that. This first corner situation obviously isn’t what anyone would want to happen and thankfully no-one was hurt in the incident. I wish to apologise to the drivers who were involved and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver.”

The stewards have handed him a one-race ban.

This is in stark contrast to Pastor Maldonado’s reaction to his jump start, which you can see in the same video above. He claims that his hand slipped off the clutch. The stewards are demoting him ten grid places in Monza.