Romain Grosjean would have liked to reach Q3 at Spa
Eleventh on the grid, Romain Grosjean reckons he could even have made it through to Q3. But he's in a good position to go for the points.
Three tenths were missing for Romain Grosjean to advance to Q3 for the first time this season. But the Frenchman ultimately has to settle for another eleventh place. However, this has the advantage of opening up many strategic possibilities for the race: « *”It’s not a bad starting position. I would have liked to make it to Q3, I think we had the potential today.”* »
But the Haas driver was handicapped by a lack of top speed on the straights, which will need to be analyzed with his engineers. He nevertheless notes the progress made over the summer: « Overall, we did a very good job this weekend. I am much more satisfied with the car than I was before the summer. We made the right decisions. »
A point of dissatisfaction for Romain Grosjean is the management of his tires, but especially the pressures imposed by Pirelli for this weekend. Indeed, the Italian manufacturer has imposed higher pressures so that the tires can withstand the enormous aerodynamic load of the Raidillon d’Eau Rouge: “We have seen extreme tire usage conditions, with pressures where we are absolutely not in comfort zones. We spend a lot of energy trying to understand how to work around it.”
While he stood on the podium here last year, he knows that the race can hold very pleasant surprises. The goal is therefore clearly to finish in the points, which hasn’t happened since Austria.
From our special correspondent in Spa-Francorchamps
