The 38-year-old Swiss-born Frenchman’s weekend got off to a bad start when he crashed on his first flying lap of opening practice last Friday.
Despite the limited of track time, and after qualifying 14th in mixed weather conditions, Grosjean believed the pace was sufficient to compete in the 55-race. After avoiding the early chaos and employing a three-stop plan, beginning with softer alternatives and upgrading to firmer primary tires after the first stop, he was fighting for the top ten.
Grosjean was able to past Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward on the final lap to finish seventh, his second top ten finish of the season and best for JHR.
“It feels like we deserve more,” Grosjean explained. “I’m not sure where people went because I felt like we had a pace with O’Ward, [Kyle] Kirkwood, [Alexander] Rossi, [Christian] Lundgaard, and [Marcus] Ericsson.
“Obviously, some drivers had a little more speed than we did, but the vehicle felt fantastic, and I’m extremely proud of how we finished.
“We’ve done excellent work. After nothing Friday, warm-up was our first lap in the dry, and we did extremely well.”
