Romain Grosjean: “I don’t really know where this performance comes from”

By notably climbing into 5th position in the second free practice session of the day in Catalonia, Romain Grosjean could show a clear smile. The Frenchman and the stable Haas F1 Team hadn't been to such a party in a long time.

A performance which, however, does not find an obvious explanation in the eyes of the former Lotus driver. « I don't really know where this performance comes from., admits Grosjean. In all honesty, it's been the same car since the start of the year, we've been doing a good job with the set-up since Silverstone.

The performance was really good in England, but it was sensitive to power. Here it is perhaps a little less the case. » An impression confirmed by Günther Steiner, Team Principal of the Kannapolis (North Carolina) team.

“Of course, these are our best Friday sessions this year, indicates the manager. This type of circuit, where there are fewer high-speed sectors, helps us because power plays a lesser role. We have always been relatively good here in Barcelona, I do not know why.

I was cautiously optimistic during testing earlier this year, which shows I wasn't wrong. This looks encouraging, but I'm not too excited yet as we still have to qualify on Saturday and race on Sunday.

There are still a lot of things to correct, where we could go wrong, so I don't want to be negative. But overall I think it's a big boost for the team. »

Stay at the level of Ferrari tomorrow in qualifying could already constitute a good step forward for the American clan.