Romain Grosjean must like Germany after scoring his first points since Hockenheim last year at the Eifel Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Haas driver took the gamble on staying out during the late Safety Car and held on in the final 10 laps to cross the line in P9 to give the American squad just their second top 10 of the season.
“I am very happy for everyone and all of the strong work we have done recently,” Grosjean said afterwards.
“Since Silverstone race one, we have been really nailing the car and getting better and just the stars have aligned.
Also Read:
- Grosjean ‘should have won’ Nurburgring 2013 but doubts experience will help
- Grosjean criticism ‘getting old’ says Haas as exit rumours grow
- Haas hint at younger 2021 line-up but F2’s Ilott not yet ‘on the list’
“Today, everything worked well. We did a different strategy which was obviously quite risky, to be on the hard at a Safety Car, but we managed to get the car to work just good enough.
“The pace when everyone pitted was good, I could push the car and then I went on the hard and it really behaved very, very well.
“Not so much under the Safety Car, but fortunately we could unlap ourselves and generated the temperatures nicely.”
For much of the race, however, another issue was proving a literal pain for Grosjean after sustaining an injury to one of his index fingers.
“It is blue, but it is better. I can move it, but honestly, I thought it was broken,” he admitted. “It was straight in the car and I couldn’t use it for some time.
“Turn 11, Kimi [Raikkonen] went into the gravel and the gravel went straight into my knuckle. It is blue so something happened but it is worth it.”
Despite the good result, it still appears Grosjean and teammate Kevin Magnussen may well find themselves without a seat after 2020.
And in fact, speaking earlier in the weekend, Romain revealed he is very interested in teaming up with Peugeot for their new WEC Hypercar program.
“We will get in touch sometime, as this is a project I’m hugely interested in for the future,” he said.
“A French constructor at one of the greatest races in the world, for sure it’s a nice project.
“I hope with Hypercars, as many constructors as possible will come back and the endurance championship will enter another golden era.
“Toyota are doing a great job, but let’s be real: nowadays, watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a car that’s fighting its little sister, or big sister, is not very exciting.
“Peugeot is coming, there’s Toyota and, I hope, other constructors. It will once again be a thrilling race whose result you never know, even five minutes from the end.”
