"He could have backed off": Romain Grosjean says Lewis Hamilton was partly to blame for infamous Spa crash

Romain Grosjean has commented on his infamous clash with Lewis Hamilton at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, which took out a swathe of cars. It was one of many incidents for which the 35-year-old has gained a reputation as a crash-prone driver.

The Swiss-French driver recently appeared on Nico Rosberg's podcast exactly a year after his horrific crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. Grosjean's history in the sport was discussed as well as how he coped with various challenges along the way.

Rosberg also brought up Grosjean's penchant for incidents, citing the aforementioned 2012 Belgian Grand Prix pile-up, which was triggered when Grosjean's car touched wheels with Lewis Hamilton at the start.

The Lotus driver had made a good start but sandwiched Lewis Hamilton between himself and the pit wall on entry to the La Source hairpin, causing their tires to touch. Both drivers lost control and Grosjean rammed into the back of Perez and became airborne, narrowly missing Fernando Alonso's head.

Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean briefly discussed the incident during the episode. Grosjean justified his position by saying:

"Obviously, in that race I could have done much better, but if you look at the footage, Lewis Hamilton could have also given me more room and backed off from the situation as he did in 2018 in Mexcio with Sebastian Vettel."

Grosjean tried to explain his position and the unfavorable reputation that he has earned over the years. He also brought up the start of the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix, where he spun at the start after putting the squeeze on Michael Schumacher's Mercedes. He said:

"In Monaco, I was fourth on the grid and Michael tried overtaking me on the left through the starting grid. That's never going to work because the guard rail comes back to the right. There were a few touches but I don't know why the reputation started there."

The 2012 Belgian Grand Prix incident led to Grosjean receiving a €50,000 fine and a one-race ban for that year's Italian Grand Prix.

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Lewis Hamilton needs to avoid incidents at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are all set to battle it out at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend (December 3-5). With only eight points separating the two, the title could easily swing either way.

Hamilton's back-to-back wins at the Brazilian and Qatar Grands Prix seems to indicate he and Mercedes have the upper hand during the critical final stretch of the championship. However, if Verstappen could somehow gap Hamilton by at least 26 points after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the title would be his.

As it stands, if Lewis Hamilton finishes seventh or lower, with Verstappen finishing first or second in Saudi Arabia, he'd win the championship. Teams will be eager to head out to the brand new Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Friday to collect as much data as possible for the race.