In 2018 Romain Grosjean did not score a point until the ninth race of the FIA Formula 1 season. Misfortune and errors saw the Frenchman endure a horrible start last season. It has been a repeat of that poor start after two races in the new season.
An unsafe release put an end to his race at the Australian Grand Prix. At the second race in Bahrain, an opening lap mishap ended in Grosjean’s retirement on lap 16.
Grosjean qualified in eighth position, but a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris in qualification saw him start from eleventh position on the grid.
A fast-starting Lance Stroll hit Grosjean from behind at the start of the race, leaving the Frenchman to pit because of a puncture, rejoining at the back of the field. Unfortunately extensive damage to the floor of the Haas F1 car caused Grosjean to retire for the second race in a row.
“I didn’t see anything at the start, I got hit from behind, then the car was too damaged to continue ultimately, but I’d lost so much time with the initial rear puncture heading to the pits”, said Grosjean.
“That’s always the risk when you start not where you want to start. We should have been starting eighth today, but it is what it is. I think we’ll have a good test on Tuesday to understand what happened today with the pace of the car. It’s obviously not performing as we want it to.”
