Charlie Whiting explains Grosjean's French GP penalty

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18:42, 25 Jun 2018

FIA race director Charlie Whiting has explained why Romain Grosjean was handed a 5-second time penalty for his involvement in the first lap chaos during the French Grand Prix. The Haas driver made contact with Force India's Esteban Ocon on the opening lap.

Whiting explained after the race that the penalty was handed out after looking at the incident and concluding that the Haas driver had made an unnecessarily aggressive move.

“That one came on a bit later from the teams so we had a closer look at that and he appeared to move over and move over and move over and push Esteban to make him go two wheels off the track.

“Then it appeared Romain moved that way and made contact.

“You can see damage on the side of the Haas car and as the car is going through Turn 2 you can see damage on Esteban’s car too or something rubbing on the ground I suspect it was the front wing but I am not sure.

“We’ll never know as (Ocon) he crashed at the next corner. That’s the reason for it, Romain moved left suddenly. He was easing him left and then made a sudden and violent move to hit him.”

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	115
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	106
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	73
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	70
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	55
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	37
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	32
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	28
11	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	19
12	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	14
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Charlie Whiting explains Grosjean's French GP penalty

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