Romain Grosjean feels his position in second practice for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix is not representative of the kind of pace that his VF-18 possesses, with the Frenchman feeling he should be up around where team-mate Kevin Magnussen is, inside the top ten.
The Haas F1 Team driver ended nineteenth fastest on Friday afternoon, just over two seconds down on his team-mate, after failing to get a clear run on his Qualifying simulation run, but the long run pace was more encouraging, which he feels bodes well for race day at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“Well, we’ve done quite a bit today,” said Grosjean, who had finished ninth fastest in the morning session. “We’ve tried different things on the car – some worked, some didn’t.
“We didn’t quite get the qualifying simulation lap right, which is a bit of a shame. The longer run felt better, which is always encouraging and what you want for the race.
“We know Shanghai is a difficult circuit, so we’re studying all the options. The time sheet for today is not really representative of where we are.”
Team principal Guenther Steiner said a lot was learned with the VF-18 on Friday, and despite some balance issues, there is hope of a strong weekend for the French racer this weekend.
“We still have some work to do with his balance,” said Steiner. “Overall, it was a good day. We didn’t have any issues with the car and we learned a lot.”
