Romain Grosjean unlucky at Barcelona

Romain Grosjean was aiming for a good result after his first podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix and his sixth place on the grid in Barcelona. The Frenchman nevertheless missed his start, losing three places to find himself in ninth place. The Lotus driver then intended to catch up but his race ended on the seventh lap when his E21 suffered a broken right rear suspension. While his teammate Kimi Räikkönen wins his third consecutive podium, the French driver leaves Montmelo hoping to turn the page in Monaco as quickly as possible.

“I had a bad start but then I was in the rhythm”, commented the former GP2 Series champion. “We knew we were able to execute a good strategy and we had the potential to achieve a good result today. There car seemed quite competitive until I encountered a problem with the rear suspension which forced me to pit and retire, which was a shame. It's always disappointing for everyone when something like this happens, but there's no one to blame, it's part of motorsport. »

Team Principal Éric Boullier is torn between the Finn's superb result and the Frenchman's retirement which costs his team second place in the Manufacturers' Championship, now six points behind the team. Team Ferrari. “First and foremost we need to look at what happened to Romain’s car. I am sorry for him and for the team but at the same time I am delighted for the team with another second place for Kimi. We recover points on Sebastian (Hag) in the Drivers' Championship, but we lost a little in the Manufacturers' Championship. »

Discover the analysis of the Spanish Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version on all platforms, and the next day on newsstands.