Assessment of the French: Grosjean and Ocon shine, a setback for Gasly

Romain Grosjean: 6th

After an interesting qualification, the Haas driver, sixth on the grid, could score important points at Hockenheim. That’s exactly what he did, as he finished the race with a solid sixth place. Harried by Pérez at the start and struggling with his rear tires during the first stint, Romain Grosjean held firm.

“I was careful at the start,” he said on the Canal+ microphone, certainly still shaken by his clashes at Silverstone, with Magnussen at the start and then with Sainz. Moreover, the former Lotus driver had received very strict instructions from his team: no contact with his teammate, under penalty of severe sanctions!

The tricolore driver quickly confirms this impression: « like Kévin, I had a bad start. I didn’t want to make contact with Hülkenberg. After that, I was rather well. »

Tenth when the Safety Car arrived, his team nevertheless hesitated on the choice of strategy.

« The rain came: we hesitated on whether to use the intermediates or not. Finally, we put them on, but it was a bad choice, we had to go back through the pits. »

Before finishing with ten final laps of fire and four overtakes to his credit on Hartley, Ericsson, Ocon, and Pérez. Rarely convincing in the rain, the Frenchman this time delivered an outstanding performance. He secures his second points finish in 2018 after achieving fourth place in Austria.

I had a blast like never before in Formula 1! I was able to push on the tires because they were fresh, and there was no degradation with the wet track. I used all the buttons in the car, every time I passed a car, I screamed! It feels good, especially after being criticized. Coming back to a level like this, it’s great!

🏁 #GermanGP 🇩🇪

Rain affected race but we score big again! 🌧️

P6 – @RGrosjean POINTS (8) 🙌😁
P12 – @KevinMagnussen 🇩🇰
@LewisHamilton wins from P14. pic.twitter.com/xX26na0Hgw — Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) July 22, 2018

Esteban Ocon: 8th

Despite starting in 15th place, Esteban Ocon was right to remain confident about the race. He finished in 8th place, reinforcing a strong team performance with his teammate Sergio Pérez finishing in seventh place.

“It’s a fantastic result for us after the disappointment of qualifying,” said the main party as he got out of the car. The rain allowed him to make a difference, placing him in the top 10 thanks to a good strategy without returning to the pits. Indeed, after a rather dull first stint, the Force India driver enjoyed driving in these conditions.

I had to evaluate the situation lap by lap, based on the amount of rain I could see on my visor and choose my braking points accordingly, but we never really doubted staying out. Finishing in the points after a difficult Saturday is an excellent result: we stayed solid, believed in our strategy, and in the end, it paid off.

In the overall driver standings, Esteban Ocon remains the best Frenchman, 11th with 29 points, but is surpassed by Sergio Pérez by a single point. He will have the chance to regain the lead next weekend at the Hungaroring.

Pierre Gasly: 14th

17th at the end of qualifying this Saturday, Gasly ultimately started from the back of the grid due to a penalty for a complete engine change. The driver’s expectations for the race were logically quite low. It was a lackluster race for the driver today. He barely attempted an offensive strategy by opting for rain tires when the rain appeared. It was all for nothing, as the Rouen native returned to the pits on the 49th lap to fit a new set of ultra-softs.

« We knew it would be difficult today starting last. Since we had nothing to lose, we could be bold with our strategy. The weather made things very challenging and we were unlucky with our strategy. The asphalt wasn’t wet enough and the heavier rain didn’t come. » On the winding Hungarian circuit, Pierre Gasly will be eager to break his negative spiral, having not scored points since the Monaco Grand Prix… five races ago.

.@PierreGASLY pits immediately and puts the full wets on #F1 #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/XWm8zl0NOq

— Toro Rosso (@ToroRosso) 22 juillet 2018

The gamble unfortunately hasn’t paid off, @PierreGASLY pits again for the Ultrasoft #GermanGP

— Toro Rosso (@ToroRosso) 22 juillet 2018