The two Haas in the top 10 at Suzuka
For the first time in its history, Haas was able to place both its drivers in Q3 in the same qualifying session. The team is therefore hoping to pick up further points.
This time, she’s got it: Haas was able to see Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez enter the top 10 during qualifying. While Esteban Gutierrez had managed to achieve the team’s first Q3 at Monza, Romain Grosjean hadn’t been able to do so since the beginning of the season, as his 9th place on the Bahrain grid was achieved with a Q3 limited to the top eight times from Q2.
The Frenchman was therefore delighted with this return to form after some challenging races for the American team. He was all the more satisfied that the developments worked and brought an improvement in performance: « I am quite satisfied and I am thrilled for the whole team. We have brought all the updates we had. We made the new wing work and it made the difference in qualifying. The whole session went well. »
The former Lotus driver only experienced a minor setback when his DRS failed in the very last corner, but it didn’t cause him to lose position.
As for Esteban Gutierrez, it is once again a 10th place finish after achieving the same in Italy. But what will matter for the Mexican is to break the jinx after finishing five races just outside the points in 11th position. He will be keen to replicate the performance achieved on this very circuit in 2013 when he scored his only six points in his F1 career.
The message is therefore clear after this second Q3 of the year: « Tomorrow, I’m going to give my all and I won’t look back. » Since this is precisely what many drivers on the grid criticize him for, it promises exciting new battles on the track…
