The Haas F1 Team went one better than their result in Australia after Romain Grosjean clinched fifth position during the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday after an aggressive three-stop strategy that suited his driving style superbly.
The Frenchman felt the second consecutive top six finish was ‘unbelievable’ and now sits fifth in the championship, and feels the result is a good reward for all the hard work the American team have put in so far this season.
Despite his good result, Grosjean still believes there are some areas the team can improve on, including the pit stops that the team performed for the first time in Bahrain.
“This is the American dream,” said Grosjean. “It is unbelievable. I said we had to manage our expectations after we finished sixth in Australia, but here we finished fifth.
“There’s still a lot of things we can do better, from pit stops to the set-up of the car and so on but, for now, this one is for the guys. I looked at their faces last night and they were all very tired because of the amount of work we’re doing. This is a massive reward. Really, just unbelievable.
“In the race, I had a good feeling in the car. It was an aggressive strategy, but managing tyres has always been my strength in the past. Knowing we had a softer compound for this racetrack was something I liked. The car was set up well for the Supersoft tyres and I had a fantastic race.
“The car has a very good baseline. Everything is working well. I don’t think I’ve ever been as high as fifth in the driver standings. This is the first time in my career, I can’t believe it.”
