Grosjean Collision Ended My Race: Esteban Ocon

The returning French Grand Prix was nothing short of dramatic with a number of incidents taking place in the first lap. Home heroes, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collided, ending both their races prematurely. But Ocon revealed that his collision with the other home boy, Romain Grosjean was the one which ended his race.

Ocon was asked whether Gasly should be investigated for the incident which spelt the death knell for him. He maintained that the stewards might do it post-race, “I’ve looked at the onboard footage and I already think it will be under investigation.”

“I think Romain will be after, but at the end we are both out of the race. The first incident [with Grosjean] was the one that put me there.”

He was visibly upset as he spoke to reporters at the track. “I took a good start, you know I was alongside Romain [Grosjean]. I had one wheel already over the white line, so I was already on the edge of the track.”

“There was nothing, nobody on the side of Romain and I got a massive hit, so already from that I would have retired, the hit was so big and after that Pierre [Gasly] lost it on the brake and hit me from the back”, he stated.

The race was supposed to be a special occasion for the three drivers but ultimately, it hardly lasted a lap for two of them. Asked his thoughts on the subject, Ocon said, “Very disappointing to be honest.”

“For such a long time, I wanted to race in front of my home crowd and to end it after three corners is really a shame.”

Grosjean seemed to have escaped the incident but on investigation, the stewards deemed him guilty and handed him a five-second time penalty. But he can at least take solace from the fact that he finished his home race.