Romain Grosjean was dejected after missing out on a possible podium finish in Melbourne. The Franco-Swiss, who had qualified in an impressive third place, was out of the race on just the second lap after contact with Pastor Maldonado’s Williams.
After a poor start which left him sixth, Grosjean took the middle line on the approach to Turn 13, with Maldonado pulling off a forceful move down the inside. However, with the Venezuelan having run wide on the exit, Grosjean firmly believes his rival is to blame.
“I think we could have achieved a great result today,” the reigning GP2 Champion commented. “It’s frustrating as I really wanted to make the chequered flag and even the podium, but on the positive side the car is performing very well. I was keeping pace with the guys in front of me and everything was looking good. My start wasn’t great, so we’ll need to have a look at the data.
“Then of course there was the collision with Pastor. From what I saw, he braked far too late and hit my right-front wheel, which broke the steering and that was it - my race was over. The team deserved better because they have been working very hard, but by tomorrow morning it will all be a memory. We’ll move on to Malaysia now, which is one of my favourite circuits, and focus on getting a result there.”
To raise the spirits of newly-named Lotus, team-mate Kimi Räikkönen scored six points by fighting up to seventh place from 18th on the grid.
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Romain Grosjean
Pastor Maldonado
Teams
Lotus Renault
Williams
Other
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  J. Button | McLaren | 1:34:09.565 |
| 2. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +2.139 |
| 3. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +4.075 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +4.547 |
| 5. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +21.565 |
| 6. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +36.766 |
| 7. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +38.014 |
| 8. | S. Perez | Sauber | +39.458 |
| 9. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +39.556 |
| 10. | P. di Resta | Force India | +39.737 |
| Full results | |||
| Pastor Maldonado | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Pastor Maldonado photos | |||
| Romain Grosjean | |||
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| More Romain Grosjean photos | |||
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