Daniel Ricciardo hit out at Formula One for being insensitive and accused the sport of “playing with all our emotions” after replays of Roman Grosjean’s horror crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix were broadcast on the world feed.
Speaking to Ziggo Sport, the Renault driver said: “I want to express my disgust and disappointment with F1.
READ: Mick Schumacher Reveals Mattia Binotto Gave Him The Good News
“The way the incident of Grosjean was broadcast over and over, the replays, it was completely disrespectful and inconsiderate for his family, for all our families, watching.
“We are going to [be going] racing again in an hour and every time we look at the TV it is a ball of fire and his car is cut in half.
“We can see that tomorrow. We don’t need to see that today,” he added.
However, fellow Aussie Alan Jones has since defended Formula One’s decision to show the replays, saying “We all like to see a good shunt as long as nobody gets hurt.”
The 1980 F1 World Champion also stressed that Formula One will always be a dangerous sport and suggested Daniel Ricciardo should consider retiring if he’s not willing to accept this reality.
“Without flossing over it, it’s a dangerous sport. We’ve got poor old Daniel Ricciardo raving on about how insensitive and stupid it was to show the replays.
“We all like to see a good shunt as long as nobody gets hurt. But the game they’re in, it’s a possibility.
“That possibility is getting less and less, for sure. The safety has come on in leaps and bounds,” he added.
Continuing, Jones said: “But it’s still an unsafe sport, and Daniel’s going on about the replays before the race restarts.
“If he’s not aware that something like that could happen, he should give it up.”
Formula One has also defended its decision to broadcast the replays, saying they only did so after they knew that Romain Grosjean was safe.
READ: George Russell Could ‘Very Easily’ Take Pole At Sakhir GP – Di Resta