Romain Grosjean secured the fourth top-ten finish of the season for the Haas F1 Team, finishing seventh in the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Frenchman made up ground by stretching his first stint on the Supersoft Pirelli tyre after losing places by being forced wide at turn one on the opening lap, and despite a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, was able to hold onto seventh in the closing laps despite the close attention of Sergio Perez.
When Perez crashed out of the race on the penultimate lap due to brake failure, Grosjean cruised to the chequered flag for his first points since the Russian Grand Prix at the beginning of May.
“It was a pretty good race,” said Grosjean. “The first lap was not great. I was pushed out by another car and I lost quite a few positions. After that we stayed out on the Supersofts, even though the tires were going away.
“I managed to pick up some pace and run well. The safety car came when we had planned our stop, so that helped a little bit. After that I was behind (Jenson) Button. I was trying to chase him and overtake him, but it was just too hard to follow another car and then be able to pass.
“The last few laps, I learned I had a five-second penalty, so I had to open the gap to the car behind. I really pushed it to one hundred percent every single lap, which was quite fun, but stressful as well. I didn’t want to go out. In the end it was [Sergio] Perez that went out, so it was all good for me.”
