Although the happy ending of the IndyCar career for the interests of Álex Palou allowed to partially forget what happened for the Spanish fans, they and many others cursed during the Sunday night what happened at the start of the Portland Grand Prix, where Álex Palou and half a dozen other riders were victims of four different incidents in the always controversial Curvas del Festival. Among the men who contributed to the chaos that ensued there was a Romain Grosjean whose lackluster weekend in Portland it was ruined much earlier than expected, especially in a permanent circuit that was presumed favorable.
The French driver had initially placed 13th in qualifying, but a blocking penalty on Scott McLaughlin relegated him to 21st, his worst starting position in 2021. From there, Grosjean stood out negatively for brake too late and enter the chicane too fast. Although his incident did not have as many injuries as that of a Callum Ilott that injured up to four competitors, it was enough to hitting James Hinchcliffe (the only driver who didn’t make it back to the race later) and force Conor Daly to cut through the chicane.
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Eventually, Grosjean was able to get back on track, although he finished with 15 laps lost in 22nd position. However, the Frenchman surprised even more than his own mistake when explaining the reason for it: a confusion in the heat of the moment between the metric system and the imperial system. Specifically, the Dale Coyne Racing driver misinterpreted the measurement of ‘300’ which reflected one of the braking markers he used to start braking, interpreting it as meters when in reality they are feet. Or what is the same, the equivalent of 90 meters.
“I fucked it. There was a lot of dust, and I couldn’t see the group in front of me. I saw a 300, and I confused meters with feet »The Frenchman candidly assured a posteriori in statements to IndyStar, after having stayed more than an hour at the venue to sign autographs and take photos with fans in Portland. “Just by looking at the track, you know that this area is always going to be difficult, but it was definitely my fault. Not even in qualifying does he stop at that (poster of) 300But for some reason I had meters in my head, and I thought it was more than enough, because that would be almost 1,000 feet.
Throughout his 10 careers as an IndyCar driver, including his first oval event at Gateway, Grosjean has already had the opportunity to familiarize himself with the American measurements, including the misunderstood miles per hour, and he knew perfectly well that the braking markers were not reflected in meters. However, the complication of the moment played a trick on him, something that he attributes in part to his European habits: “I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I’ve been using the meters for 20 years, and I got it wrong. By the time I realized it, it was too late.
Grosjean is two races away from completing his first season as an IndyCar driver. In the last two, The rookie of the year award has been complicated for him with a disadvantage of 38 points on a McLaughlin benefited by the three oval events that the Frenchman did not contest. However, the former Formula 1 driver will be in the news in the coming weeks or months when his transfer to Andretti Autosport is announced as a replacement for Ryan Hunter-Reay, an open secret for quite some time. Although no one formally lets go, Grosjean has acknowledged that he will play the full season in 2022, including his debut in the Indianapolis 500. What he does deny is having signed a contract, but that may just be a matter of time.