Romain Grosjean feels the Baku City Circuit is better in the race than qualifying but is still looking forward to an “exciting” race.
The Frenchman is yet to record a points finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but his Haas F1 Team has been very strong in qualifying this season having reached the third and final part of qualifying in all three races so far this season.
“I think the car is fast in qualifying, and we know it, so that’s how we’ve managed to go through to Q3.
Obviously, what happened in Q3 in China was not ideal, but the car is fast in qualifying and that’s why we’ve made it into the top-10 each Saturday this season.”
While Haas have been strong in qualifying, Grosjean is still without a points finish this season and he believes the tyres are playing a big part.
“The grip is going. We have good grip in qualifying.
“On new tyres, the car is amazing, but when we go into the race, we’re losing the grip and things become a bit more complicated.
“That’s the problem we’re facing at the moment.
“It’s probably coming from the way we use the tires.
“We haven’t managed to get on top of it yet. That’s our number one priority for the next few races.”
Grosjean is excited for a good race in Azerbaijan as he feels the circuit lends itself to a good race, as demonstrated in recent years, but admits qualifying can be a bit dull due to the way the circuit is laid out.
“Overtaking in Baku has always been good.
“The straight line is so long that you get a massive tow, a massive slipstream, which is always good.
“It’s probably a racetrack that is much more fun in the race than in qualifying.
“In qualifying, you’re dealing with those 90-degree corners, it’s not as good as some other places.
“The race is always very exciting. It’s probably one of those circuits, along with Monza, where the new aero package won’t have much impact.
“Racing has always been good there, so there wasn’t a big need for changes. Let’s see how we get on.”
