Assessment of the French: No points in China but a major role for Gasly

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso): 18th

Change of atmosphere in the young Frenchman’s camp. After his fantastic weekend in Bahrain, bitterness is on the menu this Sunday. Starting from the back of the grid, it was mid-race while attempting a risky overtaking move on his teammate Brandon Hartley that the Frenchman made contact, destroying any chance of results for his team. Although he initially vented his frustration over the radio, he later admitted he made a judgment error: “I apologize to Brendon for our collision. The team told me we were going to swap places. So, I positioned myself on the inside at the end of the straight, thinking he would give me room. Unfortunately, I don’t think he saw me. Once on the inside, there was nothing I could do,” confessed the 2016 GP2 champion.

Following this collision, Pierre Gasly logically received a ten-second penalty. Unlike Brendon Hartley, he finished this race in an anonymous 18th place.

Anyway, one man’s misfortune is another man’s fortune. The race was completely restarted with the introduction of the safety car, necessary to clear the carbon debris from the Faenza single-seaters. This incident affected the outcome of a race, ultimately won by Daniel Ricciardo. Pierre Gasly was this time the unfortunate hero of a spectacular race.

Esteban Ocon (Sahara Force India): 11th

Continuity for the Indian team in the midfield. Still at the edge of the points, the Norman was one of the first to pit, as early as the 10th lap to fit new soft tires, indicating that the driver was on a two-stop strategy.

“It was a complicated start,” admitted the Force India driver afterwards to the journalists’ microphones. “We lost time without gaining positions. We got back into the race when we stopped early. The two-stop strategy seemed to be working well. We were in a position to score points until the safety car came out.”

This was followed by a fair race with his teammate Sergio Perez. The Frenchman led the Mexican for the majority of the race. Ocon then regained the advantage at the last moment. He finished this Grand Prix in eleventh place, seven-tenths ahead of his teammate.

Relatively disappointed with his position, Esteban Ocon remains optimistic about the performance of his car, even achieving the best top speed. He simply regretted losing a lot of time behind another Frenchman, namely Grosjean: « I lost a lot of time behind Romain who was defending for his life for five laps. » The Haas driver indeed played into his teammate Kevin Magnussen’s hands, who thus managed to save the point for the tenth place.

Romain Grosjean (Haas): 17th

Disappointment prevails for the Franco-Swiss who finishes at the bottom of the standings while Magnussen scores points. Then ninth, his team even instructed him to let his teammate pass as early as the sixth lap, which inevitably created frustration for the former Lotus driver.

In difficulty with his ultrasoft tires from the start and after some battles with Alonso, medium tires were then fitted on his car. This final stint was ruined by the safety car entering mid-race, with the driver suffering the low temperature of his tires at the green flag: « We attempted a bold strategy by switching from ultrasoft to medium. Unfortunately, the bad luck continues to follow me. I knew from the safety car that we wouldn’t be making more stops while I was on my very long stint on mediums. I knew it would be tough on the restart, and it was. »

Once overtaken by the two Force India drivers, Romain Grosjean then made a second stop on the 45th lap. He opted for the ultra-softs, a choice far too late to take him out of the back of the field. In the overall standings, the driver marked with #8 still hasn’t scored any points, while Kevin Magnussen now has eleven units.