Romain Grosjean is concerned he could be hit with a race ban after notching up his 10th penalty point of the season at the U.S. Grand Prix.
Grosjean took out Charles Leclerc while racing for position on the first lap in Austin and was given with a three-place grid drop for this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix as well as a single penalty point on his superlicence. If he accrues two more penalty points in Sunday’s race — which would make 12 points over a rolling 12 month period — he would be banned from the next race in Brazil and, having been banned from the Italian Grand Prix in 2012, he admits he is worried about his rising tally.
“Yes, I’m in a s— situation,” he said on Thursday in Mexico. “I have two points left. OK, I get one back after the race and two back after Brazil [when the 12 month period expires for those points] so then it will be a bit nicer, but sometimes you take a penalty point and you don’t know why.”
The stewards in Austin indicated that Grosjean could have been issued with more penalty points for the Leclerc accident, but said they opted for “just one” because Grosjean had already backed off on the straight prior to the collision. While Grosjean admits he made a mistake, he still believes he was dealt with harshly by the stewards.
“You could have seen it as a lap one race incident,” he said. “Yes, I made a mistake, because I didn’t want to take risks, I didn’t brake hard enough, didn’t slow down and I found dirty air [from the car in front].
“It’s lap one of the race, things happen, if you start putting a penalty every time we try to get move done, the race is already not the most exciting in the world. My goodness. I think I have got penalised enough because my race was ruined.
“The points system, do we need it in F1, with supposedly the best drivers in the world? I don’t know. Put it in NASCAR and guys will be banned three times a year.”
Asked how he would ensure he stayed out of trouble this weekend, Grosjean added: “I will try to be as good as I can. In Austin, I didn’t want to be aggressive, and I lifted off out of the fight, and then I got caught in dirty air. I trust my stars will be aligned and everything is going to go well.”