Germany – Assessment of French speakers: A history of accidents!
At Hockenheim, the three French-speaking drivers made sparks fly, literally. Charles Leclerc ended his race in the wall, Pierre Gasly tangled with Alex Albon... Only Romain Grosjean managed to finish in the points, after another contact with Kevin Magnussen!
Romain Grosjean: 9th (6th on the grid)
Having decided to revert to the Melbourne version of his car, Romain Grosjean delivered a very strong performance in qualifying, securing 6th place on the grid. Unlike his garage neighbor, he managed to advance to Q3.
This Sunday at Hockenheim, the Frenchman made a very good start, temporarily moving into fourth place just ahead of Max Verstappen. He even engaged in a small battle against Charles Leclerc before slowly starting to slip down the rankings. The reason? A lack of race pace also due to the VF19, which, since the start of the season, has been much faster in qualifying than in the race: « Unfortunately, after about ten laps, the tires were destroyed. We can’t keep them alive and completely lose the pace. »
Romain Grosjean primarily endured the events in Germany, without ever climbing very high by the end of the race. But the driver with the number 8 made headlines on the 60th lap, for a new collision with Magnussen, two weeks after the one at Silverstone. Only 9th at the finish, Grosjean can still be pleased with these two points: it’s the first time since Spain that he finishes in the Top 10: « After this dry spell, it really feels good to have both cars in the points. »
« I am very happy with this double points finish ». indicated the Frenchman, who nonetheless acknowledged Magnussen’s tenth place. « It was inevitably a crazy race. I think we didn’t show a true race pace, when we see the battle for the midfield happening in front of us, with only the Williams behind. And knowing that a Toro Rosso is on the podium, we just would have wanted to be in their place. With the experience we have, we are capable. But at least, we survived. When you see the drivers from the top teams going off track, the conditions were treacherous. »
On the other hand, he knows very well that both drivers are going to be called to Günther Steiner’s office because the two cars clashed once again during the race: « I know it’s important to beat your teammate, but we almost lost both cars again. »
LAP 56/64
The two Haas cars come together as they battle for a points finish 🙈
No damage seemingly done, with Romain Grosjean getting the better of the tussle#F1 #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/8Uv5kLEaz2
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2019
Pierre Gasly: 14th (4th on the grid)
Despite a very successful qualifying session that saw him secure 4th place, Pierre Gasly had a very complicated start. Unfortunately for him, this poor start was due to his Red Bull which spun excessively on the grid, similar to Max Verstappen: “I don’t know what happened but we stayed stuck on the line.” Stopping in the pits as early as the fourth lap to fit intermediate tires, the Normand was blocked by his teammate in the pits. He lost a lot of time and rejoined in last place.
Instead of making a furious comeback as one might expect from a Red Bull, each of the Norman’s overtakes was painstakingly slow and took many laps to accomplish. Watching his mirrors more than looking ahead, driver number 10 was losing a lot of time on the leaders, including his garage neighbor: « It was a bit of a lottery the whole time. It was a gamble throughout the race to pit at the right moment. We weren’t very lucky this time. »
Still stuck in traffic, he then encounters an ultra-fast Alexander Albon. The two engaged in a beautiful battle that unfortunately ended badly. It was on the straight after the hairpin that the Frenchman tried to overtake the Thai driver, but the latter moved to the side at the same time. The Red Bull’s wing was then broken on the Toro Rosso: “We had been neck and neck for two laps. It’s a shame because we could have scored big points despite all this.” With no choice but to park on the side of the track, the Frenchman thus ended an almost nightmarish race.
#GermanGP 🇩🇪 | L 63/64
Gasly’s retirement after a collision with Albon #F1 pic.twitter.com/DuEW3ivrSQ
— Secteur F1 🏎️🇫🇷 (@Secteur_F1) July 28, 2019
Charles Leclerc: Retirement (10th on the grid)
Injured after his mechanical problem following the weigh-in in Q2, the only hope for the Monegasque was to carve out a path through the pack to perhaps finish on the podium. After a good start on the soaked track, Leclerc had already gained four positions!
A good strategy confirmed the trend: the plan was in motion, with two opportunistic stops on the 16th and 28th laps, each time under a Virtual Safety Car regime. Charles Leclerc was happy until then, avoiding a penalty after a borderline exit against Grosjean’s Haas. Victory was even in sight, with his second place, behind the current leader, Lewis Hamilton.
But the young Ferrari driver was pushing a bit too hard on his out lap. On a soaked track in the last sector, he went wide in the penultimate corner. Unable to return to the racing line, he hit the wall and parked his Ferrari in the gravel trap: “I simply made a mistake. I take full responsibility for the accident. It doesn’t take away from my mistake but I find that the asphalt in the last two corners is just a shame that they leave that for an F1 race…” the driver marked with the number 16 shared, somewhat annoyed. “I don’t want people to say that I’m blaming the track.”
« It’s very unfortunate, the team did a great job between yesterday and today to put the car where it was, the strategy was good, I threw it all away… It’s really a shame! » Too enthusiastic, Charles Leclerc thus lets big points slip away and sees Sebastian Vettel escape in the standings. The German secured second place at the finish. 21 points now separate the two drivers.
