Romain Grosjean took plenty of positives from a late fight back through the field to claim sixth place at the German Grand Prix, just his second points finish of the season.
The Haas team had looked in strong shape, once again qualifying ‘best of the rest’ but were involved in a big battle with Renault during the race at Hockenheim and would both drop out of the points after a decision to switch to intermediates backfired.
Able to get ahead of teammate Kevin Magnussen, who would finish 11th, the Frenchman made his way past Marcus Ericsson and the two Force Indias in a frantic final 10 laps in the midfield.
“That was good fun. It was a good end to the race,” Grosjean beamed. “Obviously, we didn’t quite get the right choice putting inters on, as the track dried really quickly for some reason.
“It was a bit of luck, a gamble, but we came back on slicks, and I had amazing fun through those last laps.”
The result was also a sense of redemption for Romain, who came under fire from his team after Silverstone, where another strong result was lost through his own incidents.
“I was just pushing it to the limit and going for it. I think we would’ve been quite happy to be where we were before the rain came, and then, obviously, it rained,” he said.
“The boys deserved a really good drive from me, and I had fun doing it.”