Romain Grosjean felt he did as much as he could during Qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday, but missed out on advancing to the top-ten shootout by just over a tenth of a second.
It was a much better day for the Haas F1 Team racer, who had been eliminated in Q1 last time out in Mexico, and Grosjean says the team has worked hard in between races to improve the feeling of the VF17, and they were rewarded with a competitive session for both drivers.
“We tried really hard to go for it from Q2,” said Grosjean. “It’s a good recovery from yesterday and from previous races. We’ve made some good steps this weekend and I’m happy with that.
“Last year here we had a good qualifying and this year’s is pretty decent for us. I guess the grid is going to be shuffled a little bit more with all the penalties.”
Grosjean will move up to eleventh place on the grid thanks to a grid penalty for Daniel Ricciardo, and with temperatures set to rise on race day, the Frenchman is hoping to make progress through the field and continue the team’s aim of taking sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
“It’s a long race and track temperature will be over 50 degrees, so cars are going to be working in a different way,” said Grosjean. “We’ll definitely see what we can do.
“Sixth in the constructors championship is still there and we’re eager to get it.”
