Grosjean accepts FIA apology after crash

Romain Grosjean says he has accepted an apology from FIA race director Charlie Whiting for the loose drain cover that caused him to crash at high speed during Friday practice for the Malaysia Grand Prix.

A grate on the apex curb of Turn 13 was dislodged by Valtteri Bottas during the long runs during FP2, with Kimi Raikkonen narrowly missing it as he followed the Mercedes. Grosjean was next through the corner and his right-rear tire was ripped off on the drain sticking up, pitching him into a spin and heavy contact with the barrier.

Click here for video of the incident.

Asked what Whiting had said to him during the driver briefing on Friday night, Grosjean replied: "He said some thing's just aren't strong enough, they're getting old, and they didn't see it because of the paint.

"So they apologized, which is good and I know that tomorrow they are going to sort everything out so we can go racing.

"We know it's not great and it shouldn't happen. Luckily I have nothing [wrong] and tomorrow it's going to be sorted. It's unfortunate, it's not great, but I think now we can focus on the reaction and how we make sure that it doesn't happen again."

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Grosjean says he had no idea what had happened at the time of the incident, having been unable to see the protruding cover.

"Initially I thought I blew up a tire or something like that on the curb because I didn't see the drain at all. Then I saw the footage a bit later on with the drain coming out and hitting the tires then I understood what happened. It's unfortunate.

"We are lucky that I'm good [but] there's a lot of damage on the car and the guys will work very, very hard to put it back in one piece. We are lucky that nothing else happened. I'm sure the FIA are very much digging into it and finding solutions for tomorrow. For us, just time to find some performance and focus on racing."

Whiting himself said the FIA would focus on checking the drains all around the circuit to ensure there is no chance of a repeat incident.

"For the rest of the day we'll concentrate on that, getting those four curbs welded back down again," Whiting said after inspecting the Turn 13 curb. "They've probably been welded for a long time I expect and have got a bit fatigued. So we will re-weld those and then tonight the guys will have to check everything."