Haas F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean says his race was more or less over at the very start, when he had to run wide to take avoiding action, leaving him right at the back of the pack after lap one, and a difficult race from there on in.
“I didn’t have a great start.
“I think I was on a wet patch of the racetrack. I got pushed wide at turn four. A car came from the inside and suddenly to the outside, so I had to go wide to avoid him.
“I was last, and what can you do when you’re last after the first lap?”
The Frenchman says he struggled with the driveability of the VF17 at the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix, but they were finally able to improve it at the last pit stop, when they found the right aero balance.
Grosjean thinks this was probably down to the fact, that he and the team went the wrong way set-up wise in Malaysia, and that cost them this weekend, but they will learn from their mistakes and comeback stronger in Japan.
“The car felt pretty difficult to drive at the beginning. It came back to life on the last pit stop when we put the aero balance in the car.
“I think we didn’t choose the right technical setup this weekend, and I include myself in the decision process.
“We can learn a lot from the weekend. I’m sure in Japan we’re going to get stronger.”