Grosjean: “I’m sick and tired of not having any luck!”
Mixed fortunes at Haas where Kevin Magnussen's good performance does not erase Romain Grosjean's bad luck, finishing only 13th and hindered on his fast lap by Pierre Gasly.
Q2 turned into a nightmare for Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman collided with Pierre Gasly at the Casino corner while the Red Bull driver was preparing for his lap and the Haas driver was pushing hard. The collision was narrowly avoided, and both men came out unscathed. However, it cost Grosjean a good starting position as he felt he had the car for a Top 10 finish: “I almost sent him to the moon! But it had big consequences for me because I could have aimed for Q3 and now I’m only 13th. I spoke to Pierre afterward, but there was nothing he could do. I got a three-place penalty in Bahrain and lost points on my license for blocking Norris on his first run… but even if Pierre [Gasly] gets a three-place penalty today, it won’t change anything for me. It’s just a huge mistake from Red Bull. At the moment, I was really scared. I honestly thought I was going to skewer him, but fortunately, he accelerated again otherwise it could have been serious.”
Despite everything, the Haas cars are regaining form on a circuit that wasn’t favorable for them on paper, as Grosjean confirms: “We didn’t expect the cars to be so effective on this track. It’s quite a good surprise. The car is working well, and Kevin had a good qualifying. I think I didn’t have his pace today, but I wasn’t miles behind either. I could have easily made it to Q3 and aimed for a Top 10, but… I’m so fed up with not having luck!”
The clock is ticking down on Q2 and Romain Grosjean is on a hot lap…#MonacoGP 🇲🇨 #F1 pic.twitter.com/IyNLaoDcs8
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 25, 2019
Indeed, Kevin Magnussen will start from an excellent 6th place tomorrow, which delighted the Dane after qualifying: « We had a good car all weekend. We built this performance step by step, improving with each lap. »
But the Haas driver could have lost everything when he hit the wall in Q1: « It was a very good qualifying session. We built it up lap by lap, gradually improving. I’m very happy. It’s a great job by the whole team, especially after I hit the wall and damaged the wing. I came back to the pits, they repaired it, and I was able to go back out. It didn’t massively change the behavior of my car. » concluded the Dane.
From our special correspondent in Monaco
