Romain Grosjean believes that the late crash with Max Verstappen in yesterday’s Monaco Grand Prix would have taught the Dutch driver a lesson in how not to overtake around the notorious street circuit.
Thanks to the tight and twisting layout, overtaking is near-impossible around the streets of Monaco, but this did not stop Verstappen from mounting a charge for tenth place in the final 20 laps of the race on Sunday.
The 17-year-old opted to try and follow Sebastian Vettel through the traffic, with the Ferrari driving being one lap ahead on the Toro Rosso driver.
Verstappen used this tactic to good effect, closing up on Grosjean before attempting a pass into the first corner. However, he misread where the Frenchman had placed his car and crashed into the back of him before flying into the barrier at high speed.
Grosjean was initially angry, swearing to his engineer about Verstappen, but was far calmer about the incident after the race.
“I didn’t see much of the accident with Verstappen, just his car flying past me in the air,” Grosjean explained. “Overtaking in Monaco is difficult and I think he gained that bit of experience today.
“It’s good to know he’s okay, as it was a bit dangerous for both of us, and it cost us what would have been a hard-earned point.”
Grosjean had been poised to claim a fourth successive top ten finish, but eventually crossed the line down in 12th place as a result of the incident.
“Until then my race had been going pretty well when you consider where we started,” Grosjean said. “The car felt good and the strategy was working well.
“After the accident, I turned around which established all four wheels were there, then looked in the mirrors to see if the rear wing was still there too, then got on with my race.”
Grosjean’s Lotus teammate, Pastor Maldonado, suffered his fifth retirement in the first six races of the 2015 season thanks to an issue with the brake-by-wire system on his car.
“I had a problem with the brakes and I could feel the pedal pressure wasn’t right from very early on and that compromised our race from the off,” the Venezuelan driver said.
“It got worse and worse so we had to retire the car. It’s a shame for the team, we had a good car here, very good pace for the race and I think a strong strategy.
“There’s potential in the car, we just need to carry on, work hard, and look forward in the championship.”
