Romain Grosjean has said that he hopes for a trouble-free qualifying tomorrow for the Austrian Grand Prix, after a positive Friday in the Styrian mountains.
The Haas F1 Team driver managed seventh place in both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 at the Red Bull Ring, finishing ahead of his team-mate Kevin Magnussen on both occasions. In the day’s second session, the Frenchman was only eight-tenths away from Lewis Hamilton‘s benchmark time of a 1 minute 04.579 seconds.
Grosjean, who faces an uncertain future in Formula 1 beyond 2018, said that he was glad that the weather stayed dry. Forecasts during the week projected rain in Spielberg and dark clouds loomed large throughout the day but to no avail.
“It’s been a pretty good day,” he said. “It’s a pretty cool track.
“I always love coming here. I love the layout in the middle of the mountains, and it’s a great atmosphere. The rain held off, which is good. We prefer dry days where we can get good mileage, and it’s good for the fans, and ourselves, for everyone.”
The 32-year-old was also pleased with the performance of the VF-18, believing that Haas are “happy” with their current position. However, he admitted that there is still a progress to be made in order to solidify their place in the top ten. Grosjean also noted that he is looking forward to qualifying, hoping that Haas can get two cars into Qualifying 3 for the second race in succession; although he must not repeat his crash at Circuit Paul Ricard at the same stage last weekend.
“The car has performed very well, so we’re happy with where we are,” he added.
“The balance has been pretty good. We’ve got some more work to do but, generally, it’s good and I’m happy with it, but we can make some changes to it to make it even faster. I’m very much looking forward to qualifying tomorrow.”
