“I wanted him to speak with his wife”- Jean Todt reveals what happened after he arrived to meet Romain Grosjean at the hospital.
Romain Grosjean escaped from a bigger tragedy but he certainly needed some immediate treatment at the hospital to deal with minor burns and any suspected injury.
Jean Todt, the FIA chief was among the first officials to reach Grosjean at the hospital, and he told, he wanted to ensure that his family knows that he was alright.
“I went to see immediately when he was in the medical centre in the circuit,” said Todt in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. The only thing is that I wanted him to speak with his wife, in order that she could hear his voice, which was important.”
What he was against, saved him
Todt had to take a firm call in implementing Halo, despite massive opposition to it, Grosjean was one of the drivers who didn’t want to to be included in F1, he termed the day “sad” when it was first introduced.
“When I went the second time to visit him in the hospital, I said: “So, you like the halo?” explained Todt. “He was not the only one yesterday to comment on how important it was, who had been against it earlier.
“But it’s not a problem. I’m not interested to be right. I’m interested to participate and to make the right decisions.” he further said. Though many critics backtracked from their initial criticism when Fernando Alonso’s car flew over Charles Leclerc’s Sauber and Halo played a huge part in saving him.
Even in a recent video of Grosjean, the French driver admitted the importance of Halo played in saving his life on last Sunday, which could have been much worse if Halo wasn’t there.
“I wasn’t for the halo some years ago but I think its the greatest thing that we brought to Formula One and without it, I wouldn’t be able to speak to you today,” said Grosjean.
