Romain Grosjean never found the right settings in Sepang

« I think we didn’t choose the right technical setup this weekend, and I include myself in the decision-making process. » These words from Romain Grosjean perfectly summarize the essence of the Haas driver’s weekend, who never managed to find the right balance since his spectacular accident on Friday.

After an average start and a collision on the first lap, the Frenchman found himself last and had to wait for his final stint to have a more manageable car: « I didn’t have a good start. I think I was on a wet part of the track. I got pushed at the fourth corner. A car came from the inside and suddenly went to the outside, so I had to go wide to avoid it. I found myself last, and what can you do when you’re last after the first lap? The car was very difficult to drive at the beginning. It came back to life on the last stint when we adjusted the car’s balance. » confided Grosjean.

More in the spotlight but for less glorious reasons, Kevin Magnussen spent part of his race in the points before gradually dropping back to ultimately finish in 12th place, after battling wheel-to-wheel with Fernando Alonso and Jolyon Palmer: “I had a good start and gained positions on the first lap. I just wanted to play it safe. We didn’t have the pace to do well today. It was a long race. I spoke to Jolyon (Palmer) after the race when we got out of the cars. It’s always hard to know what really happened when you’re in the car, but he explained to me what happened regarding the loss of his rear end,” explained the Dane, carefully avoiding mentioning his heated exchange with Alonso, who called him an “idiot” over the radio.

Alonso [sur Magnussen]: “Concernant son pilotage, on est plus ou moins d’accord avec les autres pilotes, c’est 19-1”#F1 #MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 pic.twitter.com/fc0IjvDhxD

— Secteur F1 🏎 (@Secteur_F1) 1 octobre 2017