[Polopolop]

Autosport have just reported Romain Grosjean has been given a one-race ban, ruling him out of the Italian GP.

[johnlohanmclee]

That looks way over the top for me. Maldonado has repeatedly pulled off BS manoeuvres and he hasn't got race bans - IMHO, Grosjean doesn't deserve one.

Anyway, I guess D'Ambrosio will get the drive, won't he? He's the reserve driver for Lotus and I can't see who else would be able to drive there. You could think of people like Alguersuari, but he doesn't know the team, while D'Ambrosio does and he'll probably have quite a bit of experience with the team simulator.

[onelovemp]

By the way, when was the last time a driver got a race ban? I can't remember any recent cases... Yuji Ide comes to mind, but I think that he just had his superlicense revoked, didn't he?

And something else - considering how the race ban for Renault after the 2009 Hungarian GP was called off, Grosjean's penalty might be as well. Although I wouldn't expect this to happen - I guess that Renault was helped at that time by the fact that the Valencia race was due to follow and it would have been a massive blow for ticket sales.

[Anakattawl]

Alonso could have died today. Romain has done such crap in several races this year. He deserves the ban.

[annouhMus]

must be banned for several years!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[66paptroump]

I think its a good move as that was a terrible move he put on Lewis.

[Gaiaakgyyyg]

I agree with this sentence. It's just a shame that the FIA have not taken similar approach with Maldonado for some of the stuff he has done throughout the year, however, maybe they are finally grasping on that this is the only way forward dealing with stupid drivers.

[ebonytipchik]

I agree with this sentence. It's just a shame that the FIA have not taken similar approach with Maldonado for some of the stuff he has done throughout the year, however, maybe they are finally grasping on that this is the only way forward dealing with stupid drivers.

Maldonado had some accidents due to too much aggression (like Hamilton a few years back) but halfway through the season I already lost the count on how many times did this french crashed in other drivers before the very first corner!

[Futfwrca]

As for who will step in. Sometimes the bans have mandated no car can take their places. Sometimes not.

[pinawinekolad]

Maldonado had some accidents due to too much aggression (like Hamilton a few years back) but halfway through the season I already lost the count on how many times did this french crashed in other drivers before the very first corner!

A lot of Hamilton's incidents last year were racing incidents and some weren't his fault either. Boy has he been unlucky this year. I wonder how many points Hamilton has lost due to people crashing into him and McLaren **** ups this year. Lewis actually hasn't made one mistake this year that I can remember, he has just been really unlucky, not as unlucky as Schumacher, but still very unlucky. His driving has been supreme all year, possibly the best it has ever been.

That aside, Roman has had far too many incidents like this on the first lap this year. Hopefully this ban will make him wake up and think about what he is doing a little. Maldonado has been equally stupid on numerous occasions but he never took out so many people in one crash that I can think of now, though Maldonado deserved a season long ban for his move on Perez in Monaco in my opinion. That he intentionally hit another car is irrefutable and there is no defense against it.

[overavantstandard]

I agree with this sentence. It's just a shame that the FIA have not taken similar approach with Maldonado for some of the stuff he has done throughout the year, however, maybe they are finally grasping on that this is the only way forward dealing with stupid drivers.

I agree, if anything I think Maldonaldo deserves the stronger punishment overall.

With Grosjean's incidents over the season, each one could be dismissed as a race incident (except for today) and you could argue he's just unlucky except for the fact that it always seems to be him involved.

With Maldonaldo there seems to be a hint of malevolence involved, a threat of "if you come near me I will take you off".

A race ban for the Venezuelan is long overdue IMO but today's punishment should focus the right minds on how they approach races. Its a start.

[Saqwnht]

though Maldonado deserved a season long ban for his move on Perez in Monaco in my opinion. That he intentionally hit another car is irrefutable and there is no defense against it.

Or Lewis at Spa last year. That he got off free with that one has probably given him the belief that he can get away with what he wants.

[Inenuedbabnor]

I only have a little to say about this matter:
First of all I’m viewing the glass 1/2 full. Even though the guy I pull the hardest for got taken out in the first turn, at least he didn't get taken out with a broken neck, praise Allah
Secondly IMHO, and this is not to take anything away from the drivers that had good results , but I think having Fred, and Beelzeboss both out of the race made it seem a little lack-luster. I praise Button for having a seamless race, I still enjoyed it, but without those two pilots that bring what they bring to races it was a bit of a bore for Spa. MO
Idiotic move by Grosjean he deserves a penalty, but it could have resulted in a very serious injury, thankfully it didn't.

[layedgebiamma]

Or Lewis at Spa last year. That he got off free with that one has probably given him the belief that he can get away with what he wants.

I agree completely. His incident with Lewis at Spa too was exactly the same as the one with Perez. He's an idiot and shouldn't be in F1, in my opinion.

[YpbWF5Yo]

I'm going to Monza, perhaps I'll take my helmet and offer my services.

[radikal]

MrJan,
If you're going to stand in as an object for Grosjean to hit due to him not being able to aim at other cars then I'd definitely want to keep your helmet on if I were you!

[wmhardware]

Alonso is the luckiest of all in that crash today. If he had turned in just under a tenth of a second earlier to the corner he could have been decapitated. It's a credit to all the incredible safety advancements that no one died today and the FIA deserve a lot of credit for the safety regulations they have introduced over the years.

[ferelrossi]

Grosjean unnecessarily squeezed Hamilton off the track and caused and accident with him that
1. took out or severely compromised, Himself (Grosjean), Hamilton, Alonso, Kobayashi, Perez
2. could have seriously injured fellow drivers
3. compromised or screwed up the race for several other drivers
4. showed a complete lack of spacial awareness, or even worse, care about his fellow drivers, time, place and track
5. brought out the safety car

His punishment is just, and this isn't the first time either that he has ended up in a first lap melee. Counting his time with Renault before, this makes it 6 clear first lap incidents from this Guy.
The FIA is right to sit him down for one race and have the team initiate a serious discussion about his driving character.

But the bigger picture to me, is that we will hopefully see this crazy practice of overtly squeezing a driver off track or "veering into him to force him to back down" tactic at the start of the race be appropriately scrutinized. Vettel, MSC, & Webber in particular have been known for severe maneuvers at the start, others have done it as well but not to that degree. It was only a matter of time until it resulted in something like this. In the past we've had first lap incidents for a variety of reasons including missing breaking points, ambitious overtaking attempts etc, but this tactic of trying to intimidate your fellow driver by veering into him violently at the start of the race, when so much is going on should have no place in F1, or in racing for that matter, as we saw similar incidents in GP2 at this race and others.

[ppaelkos]

Ambrosio to step in

[truck]

Be interesting to see how Ambrosio does if he gets a drive in a decent car, rather than a slow Virgin.