FIA should prioritise yellow flags over Halo - Grosjean

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Romain Grosjean believes the FIA is focusing on the wrong aspects of F1 safety by not punishing Nico Rosberg for setting a best sector time under double waved yellow flags.

Rosberg took pole position in Hungary last weekend despite a spin for Fernando Alonso which caused the majority of drivers to slow greatly due to double waved yellow flags. The FIA were happy Rosberg lifted enough on approach to the sector, but many drivers want further clarification.

Grosjean was initially asked about his thoughts on the Halo which will be voted on by the Strategy Group today, to which he said he is against the device's introduction.

“I don’t want to stop safety in Formula One and it’s great, but if we’re racing drivers then we make a choice to come into a dangerous sport and I’m not at all in favour of the Halo," Grosjean said. "I think it goes against the DNA in Formula One, against what I’ve seen as a kid or since it started in 1950.

"On top of that there has been a few downsides. We don’t know what it’s going to be like when it’s raining; we don’t know what it’s going to be like on a track like Spa-Francorchamps where you’re up and down; we don’t know what it’s going to be like in Singapore with the lights and the Halo; we’ve already got issues with the weight; and it’s ugly.

"If it comes, fine. But again if I had to vote I would vote against.”

When then asked for his views on the yellow flag incident for Rosberg in Budapest, Grosjean replied: “Now that… If we want to improve safety that is the first one to improve because setting pole position under a double yellow is a bit dodgy.

"The thing is that he didn’t get anything so everyone is going to push the limit and say ‘I backed off, look, I backed off’ even if it’s a [nothing]. I think if we want to make the safety grade we are an example for all the young drivers, that when it’s yellow we need to slow down.

"We’re lucky in Formula One because we have the radio, we have the best cars, we have the best marshals but if there’s a young guy racing Formula Renault 2.0 who sees they can do a pole position under a yellow flag then he’s going to go for the same and there may be marshals or whatever on the track. That is something I think we can do better.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.