The French lying in wait, with Romain Grosjean in 5th

Has the black elephant finally left Romain Grosjean? In any case, amidst the Austrian Alps, the Haas driver delivered a very solid qualifying performance. At the end of the first stint in Q3, he was in a magnificent 4th place, something that hadn’t happened to him since 2013!

If he then saw Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel pass him again, he still managed to stay ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. He was therefore fully satisfied with his performance, even if he was helped by having two sets of new tires during this final phase, after using only one in Q2. However, he didn’t expect to be ahead of one of the Red Bulls: « Here we have many medium or high-speed corners, and the car behaves very well in them. In the last sector, we are the third fastest, which is quite impressive! »

He is also aided by the penalty given to Sebastian Vettel, which moves him up to 5th position, something that hadn’t happened to him since Canada 2015.

Conversely, the mood was not optimistic at Sahara Force India as the car was just good enough to come 11th with Esteban Ocon but no better: “Two-tenths on a circuit like this is still not bad!” The main reason for this underperformance is due to the upgrades that the team did not bring: “We were supposed to have a good upgrade here but we haven’t received it. We should have it on both cars at Silverstone, which is a good thing and we should make a good step. But that’s what’s missing here.”

On a circuit with three DRS zones, the Norman driver can rely on his top speed, but it’s not what it used to be in the past: « We have less of an advantage than in previous years. Everyone has caught up a bit. » The fact of being able to choose his tires is not as crucial as on other tracks where tire degradation is more significant.

Pierre Gasly was also mixed at the end of the session as he believes he could have done slightly better than his 12th position: « There are only a few hundredths with Esteban. So it was possible to finish 11th and have a better position on the grid. But Q3 was out of reach. » His satisfaction is having found a good balance in his car: « I was happy with the balance of the car, but this morning I was less comfortable. In qualifying, it was like yesterday again. So I am rather satisfied. »

The three Frenchmen are well-positioned to increase their points tally. It remains to be seen which one(s) will be able to convert this great opportunity into valuable points.

From our special correspondent in Austria