The multiple incident between Grosjean and Ferrucci IndyCar is explained

to the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

Romain Grosjean fired expletives at Santino Ferrucci, prompting violent cartwheels on the track for the second time in a day as tensions mounted at the IndyCar race on the Indianapolis road course.

Ferrucci and Grosjean faced each other side-by-side heading into Turn 12 during the pre-race warm-up/final practice session, which resulted in Ferrucci raising his middle finger to Grosjean from the cockpit.

“He ran into me in warm-up at Barber (the previous IndyCar race) for no reason, and I’m just returning the favor, my friend,” AJ Foyt Racing driver Ferrucci told NBC. He later added that the feud went back no further than Barber.

“It’s not Formula 1 anymore. These cars… you can hit people with these cars and be fine.

“You want to turn into me when I have the inside? I don’t train. I’m sorry. So I had the corner and that’s his fault. If he doesn’t like it, come here and talk to me about it.”

Coincidentally, given his mention of Formula 1, Ferrucci was a Haas junior while Grosjean drove for the team until 2018, when Ferrucci was finally released following a racing ban imposed by the FIA ​​after he hit teammate Arjun Maini twice in a Formula 2 race had at Silverstone.

Regarding the warm-up incident, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Grosjean said: “I don’t know why Santino was in such a hurry to do his pit stop training this morning,” adding: “I don’t really care what happened this morning; What happens (later), how we progress (in the race), that’s what really matters.”

Ferrucci added that he and one of his crew members visited Grosjean to “set the tone.”

“For me, it’s a bygone era,” Ferrucci said. “He (Grosjean) knows that if he wants to compete so hard against me and takes on the bull, he will get the horns.”

“The horns” are exactly what Grosjean got in the race when he tried to hold the outside line at Turn 12 and Ferrucci gave him very little space and forced him onto the grass.

“What the (expletive), what the (expletive),” was Grosjean’s radio slogan on the show. “What can I do, guys?”

In Ferrucci’s defense, IndyCar hasn’t really penalized similar incidents of contact in this corner, perhaps mainly because the car naturally drifts outwards on the inside of Turn 12 on the exit because it’s tight.

Drivers there have previously been forced onto the grass and often had to get out before driving side by side through the curve.

While the move in itself may seem unfair for Grosjean, IndyCar has let similar driving behavior get away with this before.

After the race, Ferrucci seemed to suggest that things were back to normal, saying: “He’s out, honestly anyone here would be in the same situation.”

“He overtook me before without making any mistakes, so that’s totally fine. Later in the race he overtook me in turn 7 and I gave him space. So back to normal racing.

“That goes for everyone, whether I’m outside or inside, that’s just how we ride.”

Ferrucci – who had started the season with two top-10 finishes in three races – struggled with a braking bias problem from the start of the race, which progressively worsened, allowing Grosjean and others to overtake him before he was unable to get closer due to a failure The identified mechanical problem was ultimately discovered by the team based on the data.

Despite the encounter with Ferrucci, Grosjean ultimately managed a spectacular drive from 23rd on the grid to 12th. He ran very long stints, overtaking many of his competitors and overtaking Pato O’Ward in the closing stages.

Had he delayed his final pit stop for three more laps, his strategy of driving long might have allowed him to finish better – which would have enabled him to capitalize on a caution.

In JHR’s post-race press release, Grosjean did not mention Ferrucci by name, with the Frenchman simply stating that he was “making good progress until I met another rider who forced me off the track.”

“I lost quite a lot there. From then on it was a little difficult to recover.”