Romain Grosjean said that he was very happy with the performance of his Haas F1 Team car after suffering minor damage on his way to eighth place at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Grosjean collided with the struggling Marcus Ericsson at Turn 2, whilst the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team driver battled with a loss of downforce from a diffuser problem. The Frenchman estimated that the coming together cost him “about a second of downforce”, making the points finish all the more impressive.
“I’m very happy, and very happy for the team,” beamed Grosjean. “With the damage we had on the car following lap one, I’m impressed.
“We lacked about a second of downforce on the car. Being able to do those lap times, I think we did an amazing job on the setup. I’m very happy with that.”
However, Grosjean speculated that he could have taken seventh from Ericsson’s team-mate Charles Leclerc without the damage. Even though team-mate Kevin Magnussen trailed in ninth and the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team failed to score at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Haas stand 24 points off of fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Undeterred, Grosjean said that another double score in Abu Dhabi in two weeks’ time would be “amazing” for the team heading into the winter. With the McLaren F1 Team 28 points behind, Haas look set to record their first ever top-five finish in the Formula 1 standings.
“I think without that [damage], being ‘best-of-the-rest’ would’ve easily been on our side,” Grosjean bemoaned.
“I’m happy we finished eighth and ninth. Even if we’re far from Renault in the points, double-points finishes in the two last races would be amazing going into the winter.”
