Three years ago at the same Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the Frenchman caused a multi-car first-lap accident that eliminated world champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso on the spot and earned him a one-race ban.
Such sanctions are very rare in Formula 1 but Grosjean was a repeat offender – it was his sixth first-lap incident of the 2012 season, with another accident occurring on the second lap.
He missed the Italian Grand Prix, returned in Singapore and then crashed into Red Bull’s Mark Webber at the start in Japan, prompting the Australian to call him a “first-lap nutcase” and suggest that “maybe he needs another holiday”.
After Sunday’s race, Grosjean admitted: “Of course, going into Turn One, every time I take a start in Spa I will remember 2012 but I think it made me stronger.”
Since then the genial 29-year-old has gradually rebuilt his reputation by cutting out the errors while, paradoxically, his Lotus team’s fortunes have plummeted as financial problems beset the Enstone-based operation. Bailiffs arrived in the Belgian Grand Prix paddock on Sunday night to impound the team’s equipment, as the rest of F1’s teams packed up to go home.
Now a legal dispute is threatening their very existence. What has gone wrong? And do they have a future?