Daniel Ricciardo to clear the air with F1 over "abuse" of Romain Grosjean crash footage

Daniel Ricciardo

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Ricciardo to clear the air with F1 over "abuse" of Grosjean crash footage

Renault driver stands by criticism of F1's decision to air dramatic scenes on repeat

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Thursday 3 December 2020 20:20

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Daniel Ricciardo is to meet with F1 officials in Bahrain to sound them out about his views they “abused” the footage of Romain Grosjean’s fiery accident in last Sunday’s race.

Renault driver Ricciardo immediately criticised the decision to run graphic scenes from Grosjean’s accident, which showed his Haas car on fire with the survival cell wedged in a barrier following a 53g impact.

The Australian stood by his comments when he returned to the paddock to prepare for this weekend’s Sakhir GP, adding that such clips are only “appealing” to 10-year-olds but saying he is “happy to be educated” in clear-the-air talks.

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Asked if he had spoken to F1, he said: “There was the offer, and I will take that offer up. Obviously, after the race I was still, let’s say, not only a bit heated but I had to dive back to my own race, so I didn’t feel it was the right time.

“I will hear them out and hear the reasons. In my mind, my stance hasn’t changed. I felt like once they’d shown it once and we’d obviously seen him jump out and get into the medical car, I felt that was all we needed to see.

“For me, I was never really into crashes. You get those clips like ‘did you see that crash at Indy 500 or something’ and it was never really appealing. Some people love it, some people love debris everywhere, but I feel like I’m not 10 years old any more.

"You kind of grow out of that, you know.”

F1 quickly defended its decision to show the footage, stating that once it was confirmed Grosjean had no life-threatening injuries it was a good way to show that he had escaped unhurt.

Ricciardo, however, said the continually repeated replays were “insensitive” to those close to the French driver because although he had walked away, the intensity of the impact could have caused internal issues that could not be assessed at the time.

“I’m no doctor but from my understanding there could be further complications maybe later that evening that we don’t know about,” added Ricciardo. “So it just felt like it was a bit abused.

“I didn’t feel it needed to be shown as many times as it was, at least in that moment. Wait a couple of hours perhaps. I know they have to fill the time, but I am sure they could fill it with less flames and something else.

“I felt like it was inconsiderate to his family. I bumped into Romain’s wife, Marianne, and she appreciated my comments. I think that’s all the validation I needed.”