Grosjean: Abu Dhabi, “a matter of compromise”

Romain Grosjean prepares like the rest of the board of the F1 to compete in his last Grand Prix of the season this weekend on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. On a track where he came close to the podium in 2013 when he was still defending the colors of Lotus F1 Team, the 2011 GP2 Series champion recalled that the night race made the preparation special.

“The most difficult thing in Abu Dhabi is the conditions between FP1 and FP2, explained the Frenchman. The second practice session is the only representative of what we will have in qualifying and in the race. After enduring the heat of FP1 and FP3, we have an hour and a half to determine the best settings. »

“It’s all about compromise. You have to determine where you can save time, that’s the key. We can never be perfect in every corner, but we can try to be as good as possible over an entire lap”, said the man who won in 2010 in GT1 on this track at the wheel of a Ford GT from the Matech Competition team for his first start in the discipline.

Kevin Magnussen shares the opinion of his teammate, he who has never yet managed to finish in the points at the Abu Dhabi GP.

“It’s a pretty good track, nevertheless recognized the Dane. The challenge here is to run at night while doing the tests during the day. The track is not at all the same when it gets dark, between qualifying and the race. The pace there is not very high and it can be difficult to put the tires in the correct operating window. I hope we will do better compared to the last one where we suffered with the tires. »

Haas F1 Team is now almost assured of taking 5th place in the Manufacturers' Championship, with the American team trailing 24 points behind Renault Sport F1 Team and a lead of 28 units over McLaren.