Romain Grosjean collided with Mark Webber at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix: Engineer Ayao Komatsu recalls the Australian’s reaction and the Frenchman’s suffering
Romain Grosjean made headlines several times during his Formula 1 career: Just one month after receiving a race ban for his role in the mass crash at the start of the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, the then Lotus driver was back in the spotlight.
At the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, Grosjean collided shortly after the start with Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who at the time still had a chance of winning the world championship. The Australian was furious, calling his 26-year-old opponent a “first-lap lunatic,” among other things.
Ayao Komatsu, now team principal at Haas, was Grosjean’s race engineer at the time, but was only 36 years old himself, and has now publicly admitted that he did not support his driver’s emotional state as much as he could and should have done.
On the High Performance Podcast, Komatsu said he “shied away from certain aspects of [Grosjean’s] character” and explained: “I didn’t know what to do with it, you know, I didn’t know how to help him.”
Mark Webber furious after collision with Grosjean
“Mark Webber came into Romain’s room after the race, punched and kicked every single panel you can imagine – and then stormed off,” reveals the Frenchman’s race engineer at the time. “And then Romain, crying on the floor.”
“If I had been Romain, even if it had been my fault, if someone came and kicked all my panels, I would have thrown that guy out, right? But he couldn’t do that,” Komatsu recalls of the situation almost 14 years ago.
“And in that emotional state, I didn’t know what the best way to help him would have been,” admits the Japanese driver. “Yes, I didn’t tackle it head-on.” Komatsu, himself still fairly inexperienced at the time, was unable to offer Grosjean any advice.
“That’s the problem,” admits the current Haas team boss, who had no words for his driver. “I couldn’t offer anything, let’s say, nothing really meaningful, right? But I think with more life experience, I could have handled the situation differently.”
“I could have tackled the problem, whatever it was, a little more intensively with him. That could have made a big difference,” believes the now 50-year-old. “I know that today, but at the time, I just couldn’t.”
Romain Grosjean is not angry with Ayao Komatsu
“When I met Romain a few years ago in Interlagos, I told him, ‘I really feel like I let you down because I couldn’t help you in that situation – I just lacked life experience.’”
“I wish I’d had five more years of life experience back then. I would have done things differently, I would have walked that path with you to get you out of that hole, so to speak—the low point he was in. Not just at Suzuka, but in many other incidents.”
“But Romain said to me: ‘Ayao, we grew up together. I don’t want an Ayao with five years more life experience than back then. I wouldn’t change anything,’” Komatsu reveals. “You know, he’s a great guy. But I still wish I could have done more.”
At the time, Grosjean was in the early stages of working with a sports psychologist, whom he later credited with significant progress in his approach and mental stability. In his Formula 1 career, the Frenchman stood on the podium a total of ten times, but was denied a victory.