Romain Grosjean is hopeful his Haas F1 team can enjoy a more competitive weekend as the final series of flyaways begin with the “amazing” Singapore Grand Prix.
The American outfit has been struggling to maintain their form from earlier this year with just a single points finish in the last four races coming for Grosjean at Spa, however, similarly difficult results for their midfield rivals has kept Haas firmly in the battle for sixth in the Constructors’ standings.
Tracing Haas’ form has been tricky with no real pattern of results based on the type of circuit but, trying to anticipate where he expects to fight around the streets of Marina Bay, the Frenchman believes that’s because their pace is dictated by tyre performance.
“I think it will,” he said on whether the VF17 will be stronger in Singapore. “Every time we run maximum downforce, the car seems to work better. We’ve got a better efficiency between drag and downforce, so that’s good.
“The key for us in Singapore will be to get into the tyre window. If we do so, we’ll be in a good place but again, that’s not easy to achieve.”
Much like technical partner Ferrari, Haas’ pace at Monza tailed off during the weekend, although only the strong recovery of Max Verstappen stopped Kevin Magnussen from scoring a point in Italy.
Commenting on why his performance swayed from the strong seventh in Belgium to only 15th a week later, Grosjean added: “I think Monza was more just about the drag and the efficiency of the low downforce [while] at Spa-Francorchamps, there were a few more corners where we could exploit a bit more of the potential of the car.
“So yes, we struggled a bit more in Italy. The pace looked good on Friday, but over the Grand Prix it was a bit more complicated and difficult.”
Returning to this weekend, 2017 will mark the 10th running of the night race at Singapore and in that time it has quickly emerged as arguably the most popular race in Asia and among the most prestigious.
Giving his thoughts, the 31-year-old admits he too is a fan despite a poor record he has with just a single points finish there in his career.
“It’s pretty good fun. It makes some great footage and clearly, Singapore is one of the most beautiful races you can have by night. It’s pretty awesome,” he said. “It’s actually easier at night because the lights never change. The luminosity is always the same. You stick with the same visor, and driving at those speeds in those conditions is absolutely fine.
“It provides something a bit different on the calendar. Everyone loves it, especially the VIPs, who then go partying after the race. It’s a special one, for sure. It’s a race everyone waits for.”
Singapore has also grown a reputation as one of the most challenging races of the year both for the cars and drivers.
“It can be very physical,” Grosjean conceded. “All week we never see the sunlight, so that takes a bit of energy away.
“Then it’s humid, it’s hot and it’s always a long race. We usually reach the two-hour limit. It’s very, very demanding. I remember back in 2013, I lost four kilos (nine pounds) of water during the race, which is quite a lot.”
