Assessment of the French: three drivers in search of points

Romain Grosjean (Haas) – 10th

Mixed results for the Haas driver. Indeed, he could be pleased that the potential of his car remained good, but he had to settle for 10th place while his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, finished 7th. He was particularly perplexed about the respective performance levels between the super softs and the softs: « It’s always a bit strange to go faster on softs than on super softs. This has already happened to us in China. That Daniel Ricciardo attempts to go on softs in Q3 shows that the super softs are not where they should be. »

The French driver thus joined the statements made by Sebastian Vettel after the qualifying sessions, saying that drivers should be consulted for defining the technical regulations. Indeed, the tires provided today do not allow cars to follow each other, and the change to the front wings planned for next year will not change anything.

Regarding his performance of the day, he was especially pleased that Haas had not fallen back in the hierarchy, even though it was not bringing anything new to the Barcelona circuit. He thus believes he can stand out during the race since a driver like Fernando Alonso is on super softs: « Fernando is not in the best position. After five laps, he will no longer have fun. »

He therefore hopes to finally get on the scoreboard.

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) – 12th

Satisfaction for Pierre Gasly at the end of the Barcelona qualifications as he managed to secure the 12th fastest time of the session. Unlike most of his preceding rivals, he did not attempt to get into Q3 with soft tires but did everything he could with the super softs during his two attempts: « We had to focus on performance since it would have been difficult to get into the top 10 anyway. The best teams just used the softs to ensure they start with them tomorrow. We don’t have that freedom with the performance we currently have. »

But by placing just outside the top 10, he opens up the possibility of freely choosing his tires for the start of tomorrow’s race. The choice won’t be easy as the performance gap between the two types of tires is very small, as shown by the choice made by some drivers to attempt their last Q3 lap on softs.

He therefore hopes to get back on the points trail after two complicated races in Shanghai and Baku: « We have to aim for points starting from 12th. Since the beginning of the year, we have been making good starts. There will be opportunities, especially in Barcelona, which is a long race, notably for the tires. »

He tried the medium tires during the first part of free practice 1 and was surprised by the comfort they provided: « They were almost the best tires. They are much better than during this winter, where it was almost impossible to make them work here. »

Esteban Ocon (Sahara Force India) – 13th

Esteban Ocon is not fully satisfied with a session where he finished 13th and last Frenchman, even though the improvements made by the team are working: « I am a bit disappointed with our result because we weren’t as fast as we thought. I was very happy with the car’s setup and we can see that the improvements we’ve made are working, but we need a bit more to close the gap with the cars ahead of us. »

Nevertheless, the young driver is not one to give up easily and can at least take comfort in having outperformed his teammate, Sergio Perez. Even though he knows that the Barcelona circuit is not the most conducive for overtaking, he believes that points are still within reach: « We need a good start and we’ll see what we can do. Last year, I gained five places between the start and the finish. I would be happy to do the same this year. »

From our special correspondent in Barcelona