Assessment of the French: Nightmare night in Singapore

Pierre Gasly: 13th

The Toro Rosso-Honda driver started from far back in Singapore, specifically from 15th place, due to a disappointing car in qualifying. On hyper-soft tires, the Norman took a daring gamble by stretching his stint as long as possible. A brave choice, which brought him into the top 10 from the 16th lap before gradually fading.

« It was a strange race, » admitted the driver at the finish. « I got off to a good start, gaining three positions in the first lap. The end of my stint was more difficult than I imagined, I struggled to make my tires last. »

Under the threat from Leclerc’s Sauber, he gave way before heading into the pits at the end of the 27th lap. The damage was done: after losing too much time on track, he re-emerged in 18th position. Goodbye top 10. A small consolation, he finished as the best Frenchman in the race, following the 5-second penalty applied to Romain Grosjean’s race time.

« After my pit stop, the situation was confusing with Sirotkin, Grosjean said about the future Red Bull driver. The blue flags also made me lose time. I tried to do my best but I didn’t have the pace to score points this weekend. » In the overall standings, Gasly (13th, 28 pts) remains ahead of Grosjean by one point (14th, 27 pts). With his 20 Grand Prix under his belt, the Rouen native will celebrate his first year in Formula 1 at the end of September.

#F1 future stars scrapping for points 💪@Charles_Leclerc @PierreGASLY #SingaporeGP 🇸🇬 pic.twitter.com/6yzmm93CmA

— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 September 2018

Romain Grosjean: 14th

Here’s an unexpected downfall. Quite comfortable yesterday against the clock, the Haas driver lost his spot in the top 10, again due to a poor tire strategy. Quite slow at the end of his first stint on worn hyper-softs, Romain Grosjean dived into the pit lane as early as the 15th lap. He was in eighth place at the time after avoiding contact with the two Racing Point Force India drivers, right next to him at the start.

Regarding the tires, his observation is clear, tinged with disappointment: « it was a frustrating race. We didn’t have good tires for this race. My hyper-soft tires were destroyed after 10 laps, whereas the ultra-softs could last 40 laps or more. In fact, it would have been better if I hadn’t been in the top 10 in qualifying.  »

After his stop, the Geneva native came out in 18th position, between Hülkenberg and Hartley, with soft tires. Caught in the pack, Grosjean also had to contend with an aggressive Sirotkin in his Williams. Eager to overtake, the former Lotus driver forgot the blue flag on the 37th lap, signaling the arrival of Hamilton and Verstappen. Finishing 13th under the checkered flag, he dropped to 15th position after the application of his five-second penalty.

I’m sorry if I blocked someone but it wasn’t my intention, Romain Grosjean defended himself on this subject. I was fighting with Sergey (Sirotkin) who was doing more go-karting than anything else. Pierre was in my gearbox and Sergey just in front of my wing. As soon as I passed him, I immediately let Lewis through.

For the Frenchman, everything will now be decided next week, where his future within the Haas team will be determined by the management. And beware: by the end of the season, Romain Grosjean has only three points left on his Super License, after having two additional points deducted this Sunday. A suspension Grand Prix is not far off!

Esteban Ocon: Abandon

There is obviously no good time for a crash, but for our last Frenchman in this report, today’s crash is terribly frustrating. Starting ninth, the Racing Point driver (formerly Force India) immediately attempted an overtaking maneuver on Sergio Pérez at the third corner, right after the first sequence. Unfortunately, it was a too audacious choice: on the outside of the trajectory, the Mercedes protégé found his path blocked by his teammate before suffering a lateral impact against the wall. A racing incident for the stewards, but an unacceptable event for Otmar Szafnauer, the team’s director.

“I got off to a great start,” Ocon explained on the subject. “I saw an opening in the corner, then I felt a hit, and I was sent into the wall. I’ve reviewed the footage but I’m not going to analyze the responsibilities. All I can say is that I saw an opportunity to pass Sergio. I had grip on the outside but got hit and sent into the wall. We had the potential to get both cars into the points.”

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Esteban Ocon is experiencing a much more eventful 2018 season compared to 2017: the Singapore Grand Prix marks his fourth retirement of the season, the third due to a collision, after Baku and Le Castellet. Three retirements, each time on the first lap. Overwhelming enthusiasm? The move against his teammate clearly showed that the Frenchman has no time to waste. However, the incident is damaging for the Racing Point team, which started from scratch in the constructors’ standings before Spa. As a reminder, Pérez and Ocon already collided in Azerbaijan and Belgium in 2017.