Haas F1 Team‘s Romain Grosjean had a weekend to forget at this year’s Mexican Grand Prix, crossing the line in fifteenth place as the last runner.
Team-mate Kevin Magnussen conversely had a strong race, starting fourteenth on the grid but climbing into the points to finish in eighth, repelling a charging Lewis Hamilton who had to climb through the field.
Grosjean received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage whilst battling with Fernando Alonso. There was contact between the two men, which Grosjean claimed damaged the floor of his car, effectively ending any chance of a good race.
“It wasn’t to be today,” commented Grosjean.
“We started on supersofts and it was tough to follow the ultrasofts, initially.”
“The contact with Fernando (Alonso) damaged my car. I haven’t seen the footage so I don’t know, but it was at turn one and I lost half of the floor. From that point it was almost over.”
From then on, it was a race of damage limitation for the Frenchman, who was two laps down on the race winner, Max Verstappen, when the chequered flag fell.
“I just tried to hang in there. Good job from Kevin and I’m happy for the team.”
Grosjean believes that it’s still all to play for in the Constructor’s Championship, where the Haas team currently sits in eighth place.
“We just need to sort our race pace a little bit. The next track, Brazil, is one I like, so I’ll be hoping for more. Hopefully, we’ll get a good race and try to get Renault back, and Toro Rosso is not that far either.”
