Ex-F1 racer Grosjean has “overstayed his welcome” in IndyCar

Rahal and Grosjean came to blows on Lap 87, with the Frenchman making an aggressive move into the hairpin. 

This came after the former Lotus and Haas driver’s duel with Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta, who tried to overtake Grosjean on Lap 15 but was squeezed towards the pit wall.

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“Good racing with , Colton [Herta], Scotty [McLaughlin] ,” Rahal told IndyCar Radio after the race. “Good racing with a lot . Just one particular guy not so clean. We’re gonna have to have a little sit down; a little conversation, about what the hell is going on here.

“I think the drivers need to get together — all of us — because I’m not the only one with a problem. It’s quite a significant number of drivers that have had run-ins with this guy. As I said on TV, when the roles are reversed, officiating had better be consistent…because it’s gonna be reversed at some stage. I’m not gonna play nice. This guy has overstayed his welcome.”

Rahal was quick to refer to Grosjean’s reputation during his time in F1.

Particularly during the early part of his F1 career, Grosjean was involved in countless incidents, ultimately leading to a one-race suspension after the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix.

Following the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, Mark Webber described Grosjean as a "first-lap nutcase".

“I’ll let you guys decide. But as another driver in the series told me, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,’ and it’s kind of been his reputation over his whole career over in Europe and we’re learning his reputation quickly here,” he added. 

“So, to me, if race control doesn’t want to do anything then they’re not going to do anything, but when we go and punt him they better not do anything to me — which, in the past I’ve been penalized for a lot less than that.”

Grosjean’s defence

With overtaking at the Barber Motorsports Park, Grosjean conceded that he had to get inventive with his manoeuvres, describing them as “hard racing”.

“Yeah, we touched a couple of times but it was good racing,” Grosjean explained. “It was tough out there; just, you know, Barber is a very good track but it is very hard to pass, especially when you’re a train . If the car in front of you doesn’t have anyone in front then you can try a different line, but they were all in line, so it was quite tricky.

“So, here we touch a bit, and then here we touch again so it’s good racing. I guess it’s IndyCar — wheel-to-wheel action!”