Russian Grand Prix: Points for Ocon and Gasly

Esteban Ocon (7th)

Starting 7th on the grid as well, the Frenchman was 0.3 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified 5th. Overtaking him at the start, the Frenchman showed a good pace at the beginning of the race and established himself as the better of the two Renaults.

For his second stint, Esteban Ocon lost a lot of pace, so he had to let his teammate, who was more comfortable on the hard tires, pass.

Behind him thanks to the alternative strategy, Daniil Kvyat was charging like a rocket, and despite the Russian’s strong pace, Ocon managed to keep him behind to secure 7th position. He scores 6 points for his team, which is fighting for that precious third place in the Constructors’ Championship.

« I think Daniel had more pace than me on the second stint with the Hards. I was faster with the Softs, as soon as we put on the Hards, we started losing places.

I stayed behind Vettel for quite a while, which wasn’t good. Something had to be done. I managed to pass Vettel at the end, but yes, the second stint wasn’t as good compared to the first, so overall it’s a good weekend. With the team, we managed to find some speed, and that’s good for future races.

« I was going faster with the Softs. As soon as we put on the Hards, we started to lose places. »

Pierre Gasly (9th)

9th on the grid, just ahead of Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly once again managed to get his modest AlphaTauri into Q3.

Taking advantage of race incidents and overtaking Leclerc, who collided with Lance Stroll, the Norman gained two positions at the start. Distanced by the group of the two Renaults and the Racing Point of Sergio Pérez, Gasly stopped on the 19th lap to get rid of his soft tires and put on hard tires meant to last until the end of the race.

Once again this season, Pierre Gasly was caught out by his strategy, forcing him to fight his way through the pack, which made him lose a lot of time compared to his competitors.

Finally getting rid of Kimi Räikkönen on lap 34, the winner of the Italian Grand Prix was finally able to push to catch up with Kvyat, who had benefited from a good one-stop strategy.

In the end, the Normand scores the two points for the 9th place.

« I had a good start. We managed to stay out of trouble this time! I was seventh after the start. After that, we knew that starting on softs wouldn’t be easy for us.

I was able to keep up with the pace of Perez and the Renaults, but after the pit stop, we came out into traffic which was complicated. It’s a shame because we had a good pace. We tried to stop under the Virtual Safety Car, but it didn’t last long enough, so I had to overtake Albon and Norris again.

« We tried to stop during the Virtual Safety Car but it didn’t last long enough »

Romain Grosjean (17th)

Despite the improvements made to the Haas, Romain Grosjean was still unable to reach Q2. Like many drivers at the back of the grid, the Frenchman took advantage of accidents further up the field to climb to 10th place.

During his second stint, the Franco-Swiss was an easy prey for his opponents, beginning his slow decline in the standings which eventually saw him fall to last place following a late pit stop. With George Russell also having stopped late in the race, the Haas driver finished second to last in Sochi.

The start wasn’t great. There was a slight touch that damaged my front wing a bit. Then I did well on the first lap but I have never driven a car with so little rear grip, it was a disaster.

The weekend’s outcome is tough. It was challenging. It’s not a circuit I particularly enjoy, but there are some like that in the season. From the first laps of free practice, I felt something was off, and we never fixed it.

Currently last in the driver’s championship with zero points, Romain Grosjean could be experiencing his last season in Formula 1. Disembarked from Racing Point at the end of 2020, Sergio Perez is a potential candidate for Haas. In addition to his technical expertise, the Mexican would bring numerous sponsors, which the American team would welcome with open arms.

« From the first laps of free practice, I felt that something was not right. »