Daniel Ricciardo vindicated by message from Romain Grosjean's wife
Daniel Ricciardo has revealed the support he received from Romain Grosjean’s wife after slamming F1’s “disgusting” reaction to the French driver’s fiery crash.
Ricciardo took a seething swipe at Formula One on Sunday for continuing to show replays of Grosjean’s crash the Bahrain Grand Prix.
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Grosjean’s car split in two and burst into flames after smashing through a guard rail on the opening lap of Sunday’s race.
Grosjean somehow escaped the inferno with only minor burns to the back of his hands, but Ricciardo was left disgusted by F1’s decision to broadcast replays of the crash during a delay in the race.
“The way the incident of Grosjean was broadcast over and over, the replays over and over, it was completely disrespectful and inconsiderate for his family, for all of our families watching,” Ricciardo told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo.
“I mean, we can see that tomorrow, we don’t need to see it today.
“For me, it was entertainment and they’re playing with all of our emotions and I thought it was pretty disgusting.”
Formula One officials later defended their coverage, but Ricciardo isn’t backing down.
On Thursday he revealed how Grosjean’s wife had commended his comments in the aftermath of the crash.
“I felt like once they showed it once and then we’d obviously seen him jump out and get into the medical car, I felt like that was all we really needed to see,” Ricciardo told Motorsport.com.
“I felt like it was inconsiderate to his family, but also it was a distraction because every time we’d go into the garage and try and find out what was happening, the only thing that was on was it seemed like endless replays.
“Everyone was a little bit spaced out or rattled from it all, which is completely understandable.
“I bumped into Romain’s wife Marion and she appreciated my comments and I think that’s all the validation I needed.
“I think as well, it was a 54G impact and from my understanding, don’t get me wrong I’m no doctor but there could be further complications maybe later that evening that we don’t know about internally. So it just felt like it was a bit abused.”
Romain Grosjean hails crash ‘heroes’
Formula One’s governing body has now opened an investigation into the crash, with the French driver hailing those who helped him escape the fireball.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) also announced on Thursday that it has made changes for this weekend's race at Sakhir, adding two rows of tyres and a conveyor belt at the scene of Grosjean’s accident on turn three.
A kerb between turns eight and nine has also been removed to reduce the risk of a car becoming airborne, while the depth of the barrier on the right side of turn nine has been increased to four rows of tyres.
Grosjean left hospital on Wednesday and in an Instagram post accompanying video footage pointed to “the moment I realised I was going to live”.
He highlighted the professionalism of the marshal with the extinguisher and FIA doctor Ian Roberts.
“I told him he was a hero, he went into the fire as much as he could to save me,” he said of Roberts.
“I felt Ian's hands pulling me over the barrier and knew I was safe. I remember every second of it and life will never be the same again, but I'm sure for the best.
“I met with death and that is the worst feeling I ever had.
“But I'm alive and will enjoy every second of life and every small win in a much better way from now on.”
with AAP
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