Grosjean accepts blame for 'some' penalty points

Romain Grosjean says that he accepts the blame for some of the incidents that have landed him penalty points over the last twelve months, but not all. The Frenchman currently has nine points on his licence, meaning he is three away from receiving a race ban.

He had racked up ten before one was taken away after the Mexican Grand Prix, and he is set to lose two more following the weekend in Brazil. However, he is still in danger of being handed a race ban if he receives three points at Interlagos.

Grosjean admits that some of the incidents that warranted his penalty points were deserved, but he has questioned the thinking behind others: “Barcelona, two points and three [grid] places, fair enough,” he said to RaceFans. “I made a mistake, it happens.”

Grosjean caused a multi-car collision on the opening lap in Spain, putting himself, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly out on lap one. His tenth penalty point was added when he made contact with Charles Leclerc in the US a couple of weeks ago.

“I think I got penalised enough because my race was ruined as well,” he said. “Even if you go further, Charles’ race was ruined because he had contact with [Esteban] Ocon, he had front wing damage and floor damage by that time.

“Last year Brazil with Ocon, lap one. I got two points in five seconds. Have a look at what happened between [Lance] Stroll and [Brendon] Hartley, lap one Canada this year. No penalty, penalty. Lap one start in Paul Ricard with Ocon. I go absolutely straight, I don’t turn the steering wheel. Penalty."

In Singapore, Grosjean was penalised after he ignored blue flags while battling Williams' Sergey Sirotkin. Leader Lewis Hamilton came under threat from Max Verstappen due to being held up, but Grosjean says that what happened didn't change the outcome of the race.

“The blue flag in Singapore, why did I got two points and five-second penalty?” Grosjean questioned. “I didn’t change the result of the race. OK, I blocked Lewis and I apologise. I was in my fight as well. By the time I was in front of the Williams, the Williams didn’t let the other car by either so I couldn’t move straight away.”