Haas F1 Team’s Guenther Steiner feels there is no need for any changes to the kerb after the scary Lap 1 crash between Romain Grosjean and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP.
Hulkenberg and Grosjean came together in Turn 9 at Yas Marina circuit after both locked up and went deep in Turn 8 which meant their exit wasn’t too great which led them into a clash in Turn 9 when Grosjean’s front left touched the right rear of Hulkenberg.
The German was sent airborne as he flipped multiple times and landed upside down onto the barriers with no space for him to climb out until the marshals rushed to the scene to turn the car and extract him from the car.
Grosjean touched the big orange kerb and had a small airy moment for a brief second before Hulkenberg collided with him. When asked by FormulaRapida.net after the race if the kerb needed to be removed, Steiner had a clear no to the question.
“You know it [big kerb] is there [and] sure it is a factor in [the incident], but it is there and that’s part of the racing,” he said. “We don’t need to change anything, it is part of racing. It was a racing incident and that can happen. It [only] makes the racing interesting.
“Who’s at more fault? I think its Hulkenberg but then what you want, he’s [already] upside down and it is the last race of the season. I think it was the right decision and there was no need to do anything there in my opinion.
“For sure it wasn’t Romain’s fault. Where could he go? The next thing is, he needs to sit in the grandstand.” Hulkenberg was disappointed with the outcome but was fine with the stewards decision to term it as a racing incident as well.
“I think we have to put it down as a racing incident,” he said. Racing Romain into Turn 8 – we both locked up, I went wide, he went even wider so I thought he ran off the track and I had Turn 9 to myself that’s why I went for the apex.
“But obviously he was still there and wheels made contact and the rest we’ve seen – just a couple of flips, which obviously look spectacular but nothing really dramatic. It looked spectacular, [but] not a hard crash – no heavy G impact.
“So, no problem from that point of view. [It’s] unfortunate I didn’t see Romain. We both raced hard into Turn 8, both late on the brakes. I couldn’t see him – he was in my blindspot and the rest is history.
“Still, disappointing because it’s a long build-up of a race weekend and to be out so quickly is just always very hard to swallow and frustrating.” On the other hand, Grosjean agreed as well with the call and that he did not see him coming.
“Nico made a great braking in Turn 8 and I kept things on for Turn 9 but when turning, I don’t think he expected me to be there but I didn’t know where to go,” he said. “We touched and I asked on the radio straightaway, ‘Is he OK?’
“Because I saw the car flying and yes, it wasn’t ideal but a fair call of racing incident – two cars going into the same corner. I am glad Nico is OK and it happens in racing.” As for the damage to the Grosjean’s car, there was bit of a visible front wing issue.
Steiner wasn’t certain if the strange vibes Grosjean faced was down to the hit but the Italian stated that there was slight loss of downforce and bit of a balance shift. Despite that he finished ninth with Kevin Magnussen ending up 10th to end the 2018 season.
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