Team Penske IndyCar driver Will Power has exploded in a TV interview, coming down hard on Romain Grosjean after a separate incident with Scott Dixon in which the Australian became physical with the six-time champion.
The 2016 Road America winner’s Saturday dramas started early in the morning practice session, when Grosjean gradually moved his car toward the right side of the track as Power approached the Formula 1 veteran, briefly putting his right side wheels in the dirt. Power backed off, but more was yet to come.
The first of two incidents for @12WillPower in Practice 2.#INDYCAR // #SonsioGP pic.twitter.com/wPdRR1HWTd
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 17, 2023
As the NBC Peacock feed finished up with an Alex Palou interview following the Spaniard’s spin and subsequent wall contact, the camera flashed onto a clearly frustrated Power angrily gesturing at Scott Dixon.
With double birds flying followed by a few shoves, The two-time IndyCar Series champion gave Scott Dixon a sizable piece of his mind after the pair of drivers had contact with each other and then the wall.
Dixon spun going into Canada Corner and the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda resumed, moving to the right side of the track. After letting Romain Grosjean through, Dixon moved to the left side of the track, not knowing that Power was fast approaching.
As the two-time Road America winner moved to the left, there was contact and both cars headed toward the concrete wall shortly before Billy Mitchell Bend. After both cars stopped in the nearby grass, Power vented his frustration to his competitor and echoed those frustrations during the practice broadcast.
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“Scott moved abruptly and I was coming and it’s a very unfortunate incident, nothing I could really do there,” Power said. “Didn’t expect him to move and yeah, such a pity. Felt like we had a pretty good car. We’ll rebuild it and see what happens there, yeah.
“I just said that I didn’t expect such an abrupt move and yeah, not a good situation. Not a good situation, but these things happen.”
Team Penske set to the task of rebuilding Power’s damaged car, fixing suspension and other damaged components before qualifying began just two hours after the morning practice ended.
The team was successful in their endeavor to rebuild the car, but in their haste left a screwdriver in the tub of the No. 12 Chevrolet. Power could not replicate his crew’s level of success and did not advance out of the first round of qualifying. Because he was in the second group of the first round, Power will start 22nd.
Following Power’s elimination, NBC’s Kevin Lee secured an interview with the Toowoomba native who let his feelings be known about the track and events through the day.
“This track’s terrible when you go off, they do a terrible job here,” Power said. “They need to pick up their game. Anywhere you go off you almost break your back every time. Done it a couple times this weekend, so need a kick in the butt for this place. Just pissed [about] what Dixon did this morning, just ruined our whole weekend and just a terrible move all up.
To end the interview, Power vented his frustrations about what Grosjean did early in the morning practice.
“Frustrating because we felt like we were really quick this morning but yeah, yeah, just disappointed with what happened, really disappointed and [Romain] Grosjean is a piece of crap. If you saw what he did in practice, he needs a punch in the face.”
Grosjean starts 19th while Dixon starts 23rd.
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— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 17, 2023
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