Romain Grosjean admitted he was disappointed to be eliminated from Qualifying at the first hurdle on Saturday at the Yas Marina Circuit, with the set-up of his VF17 having not been to his liking.
Having sat out the majority of the second Free Practice session on Friday, the only one that was run in conditions similar to those experienced in Qualifying, Grosjean knew he was heading into the session on the back foot, and unlike team-mate Kevin Magnussen, he could not find the time needed to get into Q2, missing out by just 0.013 seconds.
Grosjean says the Haas F1 Team has been struggling with the low-speed corners, something he feels will need to be addressed ahead of the 2018 season, although he hopes to put in a strong final race performance on Sunday.
“We didn’t do much in FP2 yesterday, so qualifying was always going to be tough,” said Grosjean. “I don’t have any front end. Kevin (Magnussen) loves it, but I don’t like it.
“We’ve struggled to find the perfect balance. I’m struggling to drive the car that way and get the last few tenths out of the car. No excuse, but it just doesn’t fit my feelings.
“We’re going to work hard and try to find out what we can do to improve that. It’s been the case for about the last eight or nine races. We made a step in Brazil, but here with all the low-speed corners, it’s just difficult.
“Hopefully in the race, with more laps, it should get better. We need a lot to happen in the race tomorrow, but anything is possible.”
