A former Formula 1 star was forced to pull over after his helmet was left bloodied following a brutal collision while he was driving at 230mph round a circuit
Former Formula 1 star Romain Grosjean was forced to pull over after his helmet was left bloodied following a brutal 230mph collision.
The 40-year-old, who has 179 F1 race starts to his name and 10 podiums, now drives in IndyCar for Dale Coyne Racing and is set to take part in the iconic Indianapolis 500 in Indiana next month.
However, the Frenchman’s preparations for the historic event didn’t go to plan on Tuesday after a video showed Grosjean having to pull his car into the pit lane as engineers and mechanics cleaned his car and helmet after a bird strike.
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At first it was unclear what was going on but it soon became apparent that the remains of a bird which had hit the aeroscreen of Grosjean’s car at 230mph were being cleared.
Grosjean was seen wiping his helmet before he turned to the camera and said: “You want some of this? A bit of blood here.”
The former Renault, Lotus and Haas driver didn’t have much sympathy when he was jokingly asked if he was “killing birds”, replying: “Why is the bird flying over the racetrack, that’s the question.”
Grosjean added: “I still have blood on my race suit; there were pieces of the bird on the rollbar. I couldn’t see where I was going any more, there’s plenty on the aero screen. The helmet stinks, the seat stinks. I didn’t get any chicken for lunch; I just walked past it.”
But unsurprisingly, Grosjean’s remarks did not go down well with PETA senior vice president for the UK and Europe, Mimi Bekhechi, who put her two pence in: “Romain Grosjean had better hope he doesn’t fail his next race as badly as he has failed Empathy 101.
“Birds have feelings, apparently more than Grosjean does, considering that he seemed more concerned with his car, helmet, and suit, all replaceable, than the smash-up of this unsuspecting bird.
“Instead of just passing up chicken for lunch, may we suggest that he steer clear of harming any birds or other animals whose lives on factory farms and terrifying deaths in slaughterhouses are the pits.
“PETA France will be sending Grosjean some plant-based chicken to help get his vegan lifestyle ‘on track’.”
It isn’t the first terrifying crash that Grosjean has been involved in. The former Haas star escaped a shocking fireball wreckage at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix when his car spun into the barriers.
Grosjean miraculously managed to climb out of the 67g crash but suffered burns to his hands and ankle during the 28-second period he remained in the car while it was on fire.