Grosjean questions penalty consistency

Editor

Romain Grosjean has called for consistency regarding F1’s penalties after Nico Hulkenberg escaped without sanctions at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Fighting for position on the opening lap at the Hungaroring, Grosjean was hit hard by Hulkenberg which lifted his car into the air.

The Renault driver wasn’t penalised, however, corners later Max Verstappen was hit with a penalty for tangling with Daniel Ricciardo.

As such Grosjean has questioned the consistency of the stewards, and revealed he has spoken with FIA racing director Charlie Whiting about it in the past.

“It was a big hit and I went pretty high in the air,” he to Motorsport.com. “He had lots of space on the inside, but he locked things up.

“I don’t see the difference between Nico and Verstappen, to be fair. Again, the stewards’ consistency is a bit strange.

“It was Turn 1 – but Spa-Francorchamps in 2012 was Turn 1, and we can’t do whatever we want. Turn 1, lap two, lap 10, it’s the same thing. You can’t run over another car.”

He added: “It’s come up before, and I went to see Charlie after that briefing, because there was some great racing between [Sebastian] Vettel and Verstappen in the last race, but it was off track and coming back, so I said what can we do?

“We want racing, but we don’t want wheel-banging, we’re not in NASCAR.”