Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Daniel Moxon

Former F1 driver slammed by rival in fiery clash – "He needs a punch in the face"

Former Formula 1 racer Romain Grosjean was told he "needs a punch in the face" by an angry IndyCar rival after an incident at the Sonsio Grand Prix.

IndyCar is in Wisconsin this weekend for the annual race at Road America. And several former F1 stars are involved in the action including former Haas racer Grosjean.

The Frenchman left F1 in 2020 after his horror crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix which he was lucky to survive. Since then, he has been racing across the pond in IndyCar representing the Andretti Autosport team.

While Grosjean has earned plenty of admirers in America, it seems safe to say Will Power isn't one of them. The Australian racer took exception to an incident involving the two of them in practice in Wisconsin.

They didn't make contact, but Power was forced onto the grass by the Frenchman who didn't leave much room for his rival. And after qualifying he made sure Grosjean knew exactly what he thought about the incident.

"Grosjean is a piece of crap," he said with an angry look on his face. "If you saw what he did in practice... He needs a punch in the face."

Safe to say that incident wasn't all that Power was angry about. In an interview lasting for several minutes, he also took aim at those who maintain the Road America circuit and referenced a crash he had in practice with Scott Dixon.

The six-time IndyCar champion admitted he did not see Power prior to the crash which saw both of them hit a concrete wall hard. And the latter was visibly livid about the incident as he climbed out of his destroyed car.

Power also pushed Scott Dixon and exchanged words after a crash at Road America (Sky Sports)

He put both middle fingers up at Dixon and appeared to be shouting at him. He then approached his rival and pushed him in the chest, before later kicking the air in frustration.

But none of those antics helped him to calm down, especially after a bouncy ride across the grass in qualifying. In that interview after the session, Power said: "This track is terrible when you go off. They do a terrible job here – they need to pick up their game.

"Everywhere you go off you almost break your back every time. I've done it a couple of times this weekend. They need a kick in the butt at this place. I'm just p***ed at what Dixon did this morning, it just ruined our whole weekend, just a terrible move.

"The guys did a great job [to fix the car]... we did a fantastic job to get out there and I did everything I could. It's just so hard in this field and, with a new front wing and new floor, you don't know where the aero balance will be. Man, frustrating because it felt like we were really quick this morning. Just disappointed with what happened, really disappointed."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.