Romain Grosjean has been handed a one race ban for causing the accident at La Source on the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Lotus driver got a good start, trying to get ahead of Lewis Hamilton who got bogged down on the line. However, he pushed too hard on the inside, causing both himself and Hamilton to collide into the wall.
With their cars out of control, Grosjean and Hamilton careered into the leaders who were taking La Source at the time. This resulted in Kobayashi and Alonso being hit, putting the Ferrari driver out of the race.
The FIA have now acted to ban Grosjean for the next race in Italy, deeming him responsible for the accident.
There were many different theories regarding who was to blame for the accident, with some pointing the finger at Pastor Maldonado for jumping the start, and an Italian journalist saying that Hamilton was to blame for not backing out. The FIA have decided that as it was Grosjean who cut across Hamilton, he is to blame.
Lotus test driver Jerome d’Ambrosio is expected to replace Grosjean for the Italian Grand Prix.
On top of this, Grosjean has been fined €50,000.
Lotus F1 Team have confirmed they will not appeal the penalty.
The official FIA statement is as follows (courtesy of Kate Walker on Twitter):
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I think the one race ban is a little harsh to be honest. and the FIA saying “It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race” sounds to me like he was only given the ban because of who was knocked out. If he had hit and HRT for instance, would he have got the ban? probably not.
I’ve seen worse and more malicious crashes from Maldonado this season and he has yet to see a ban. Undoubtedly the crash was Grosjeans fault but the one race ban was very harsh and unjust in my opinion.