Haas: Grosjean sorry, Gutierrez dejected!

For the second time this season, after the Singapore Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean was unable to start the race. But this time, the driver is the only one to blame after a rookie mistake during the installation lap of this Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Haas driver lost the rear of his car on the climb up the start-finish straight, at a rather slow pace, hitting the wall and thus ending his hopes of points following his excellent 7th place in qualifying: « I’m sorry for the fans and for the whole Haas team. We went from hero to zero in 24 hours. » stated the slightly embarrassed Frenchman.

Grosjean, however, does not seem to be able to explain his mishap: « What can I say? I wasn’t aquaplaning. I was faster than Esteban, and the car suddenly went off. It’s just bad luck. There was no grip at that spot. »

On the other side of the garage, the atmosphere was no better. Esteban Gutierrez retired in the final part of the race, causing the Mexican driver to show frustration as he exited his car. The team’s sporting director, Günther Steiner, had to have an explanation with his driver live in front of the cameras: “It was a disastrous race for us. Esteban drove really well but we had an issue with the electronics and we had to pull the car out.”

An additional disappointment for Gutierrez who was aiming for points this Sunday in favorable conditions: « It was a nice race, a bit boring at the beginning but it improved when we switched to rain tires. The conditions were tricky on both tire compounds and it was just about keeping the car on track. We reached a good pace and I was making my way from the starting grid, we could aim for points. Unfortunately, we started having electrical problems. I had power and braking issues, in rainy conditions, it’s the worst thing that can happen. The team did their best to fix it but we had to retire » concluded the very disappointed Mexican.