Satisfaction for Romain Grosjean, 7th in Belgium

Spa-Francorchamps is a race that has gone fairly well for Romain Grosjean in the past. In 2015, he achieved his 10th and (for now) last podium there. Although this year he didn’t make it to the podium, he was still smiling at the end of the race, finishing in seventh place.

He started 11th on the grid thanks to Jolyon Palmer’s penalty. He managed to steer clear of the obstacles before Eau Rouge, between Nico Hülkenberg and the two Force India cars. He harshly judged Sergio Perez’s maneuver on Esteban Ocon: “I didn’t get a very good start, but I avoided all the chaos of the first lap. What happened in front of me on the downhill with Raidillon was quite dangerous,” he commented at the end of the race.

During the remainder of the race, the Haas driver was able to manage his tires. He believed that he could have challenged the two Force India drivers if they hadn’t neutralized each other by colliding for the second time in the race.

The entry of the safety car allowed the gaps to close entirely, thus opening the appetite for those who had been distanced until then. This is how Romain Grosjean tried everything to find an opening on Nico Hülkenberg, without success: « After the safety car, we put on the super softs to attack the Renault. I attacked like crazy. So, I wore them out, but we didn’t have the speed. We were missing 3-4 tenths per lap. »

He is still content with these six points even though he hadn’t scored any since Austria. His teammate, Kevin Magnussen, could have done the same as he was in an ideal position during the restart after the safety car. But that was without considering a major brake lock-up in the final chicane and a disastrous run-off. The Dane therefore had to settle for a 15th place finish.

From our special correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps