'Out of his depth': Uproar over 'dangerous' Daniel Ricciardo moment

Romain Grosjean’s driving ability is being questioned after he was warned for ‘potentially dangerous’ driving in the British Grand Prix.

The Haas driver came under fire from both Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo after some late defensive moves as they battled for position at Silverstone on Sunday.

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Grosjean dived across in front of Sainz and Ricciardo as they attempted to pass the French driver, leading to a formal warning from stewards.

Ricciardo described Grosjean’s actions as “sketchy”, while Sainz said it was “very dangerous” driving.

And according to Australian great Mark Webber, Grosjean might be “out of his depth” in Formula One.

“I don’t think he understands the rules of engagement,” Webber said during Channel 4’s coverage of the race.

“He is moving around very late in defending. He is saying he is leaving a car’s width on the inside, which technically he is, but this weaving in the middle of the road at high speed … he has got to be even further across to show his intention earlier.

“I think Grosjean has a gross misunderstanding of what current Grand Prix racing is all about in terms of wheel-to-wheel combat. He’s mentioned how Max Verstappen was in the past, and that is in the past, we have moved on.

“He’s the chairman of the GPDA. He should know the rules.”

Fellow F1 great David Coulthard agreed, saying Grosjean is “a repeat offender”.

“It’s frustrating because there are other guys out there who can pull off manoeuvres and race hard without any of the black and white flags,” Coulthard said.

“The stewards are on to Romain. They are not just throwing those flags out willy nilly and that is the first black and white flag we have seen in quite some time.”

Romain Grosjean defends controversial driving

While he accepts that the two manoeuvres were on the edge, Grosjean is clear that he left enough space for his rivals – and did nothing that Max Verstappen hadn’t tried out in recent years.

Grosjean said that the lack of any specific rules forbidding such late blocks, when Verstappen had got away with similar tactics, meant he felt he was entitled to drive in that manner.

“I think a few years ago we really wanted to put a rule in place that you can't move on the braking point after some of Max's defending, but there weren't any rules put in action,” he explained

“So yeah, I pushed a bit the limit today, got a warning, but I don't regret anything. You know I tried to do the best I can.”

Grosjean did not think his moves were as dramatic as others made out, especially because he was clear about how much track space he left both Sainz and Ricciardo.

“I think in both cases I moved a little bit late, but I always left the car width,” he said.

“They want to clarify the fact that we cannot move that late, which I agree with, but there were no real rules beforehand and Max Verstappen used it a lot during his racing, so I thought why not?

“Why can't I take advantage of that? Because it's not everyday that we are running sixth or seventh in the race and I had to give everything I could to defend.”

F1 race director Michael Masi said that he would discuss the matter with drivers at the next race, in a bid to ensure that everyone knew what was acceptable behaviour.

“This has actually come about following extensive discussions with the drivers throughout last year,” he said.

“One of the big areas that the majority of them asked for was a clamping down of cars moving under braking and drivers moving under braking.

“The stewards have given Romain the warning in accordance with the ISC side of it. And further to that, we've agreed that we will discuss it at the next drivers' meeting and go from there.

“But it's actually come about as a result of the drivers all requesting a crackdown in that area because they thought it was something that needed to be clamped down on a bit more.”

with motorsport.com