IndyCar: Grosjean’s fury

Paul Roget, Media 365: Posted on Mon, Mar 6, 2023 at 2:26 pm.

Romain Grosjean was so angry he was beaten by another competitor when he managed to take his first IndyCar victory on Sunday in Florida, but he ended up forgiving.

After three podiums in his first season in IndyCar, and then a fourth last year, Romain Grosjean thought he had his first success in the discipline on Sunday, at the opening Grand Prix of the 2023 season, in St. Petersburg (Florida). The pole-sitter, the Frenchman from Andretti Autosport, dominated the course of the race for nearly a third of this 100-lap race, before crashing into New Zealand competitor Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske), thus seeing that all his efforts were reduced to nothing. . What exasperates the former Formula 1 driver, who does not rule out a return, first in his single-seater, and then on the NBC Sports microphone. “I saw what happened on TV, so I won’t dwell on it too much, he was evacuated first, and he’s particularly upset. I am very very disappointed, I hope some rules can be made. Our car was super fast, so it really bothers me. And what we saw today on the track was not a race.”

McLaughlin, who finished the race in 13th place, later apologized on the same US channel. “I’m really sorry for Roman, he’s a friend, and I know we were playing for victory. But I made a big mistakesaid the New Zealander. And I’m not a person who works that way. I’m sorry, I feel like I’ve struggled so much with so many good drivers, and I’m so disgusted with my team. There are good days and bad days, and I really have to apologize to Roman, I will go see him soon. “An apology finally accepted by the citizen of Geneva, though to his immense disappointment.” Our reaction was we all make mistakes. Scott came over and apologized, that meant everything to me. He was awarded a penalty. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change much for my race, but the fact that he comes up and says he’s sorry means a lot.”