Haas driver Romain Grosjean says his car “wasn’t doing anything” he wanted in Russian Grand Prix qualifying and is expecting a tough race.
The Frenchman has struggled throughout the weekend at the Sochi Autodrom, particularly with the brakes of his VF-17.
Grosjean complained numerous times over team radio during practice three and qualifying about the balance of his car, despite Haas reverting back to Brembo brakes.
He was eliminated in Q1 and was the slowest of the 20 runners, having run into yellow flags on his final lap – something Grosjean feels needs to be looked at.
“I’ve been very unhappy with the car since yesterday morning,” Grosjean explained after qualifying.
“Something is just not working, and then today we had the yellow flags on my last lap while I was trying to improve.
“We need a solution for those yellow flags. Three races now we’ve had at least one Haas (car) out because we get a yellow flag on our last attempt, so that’s a bit too much.
“Kevin [Magnussen] has been pretty happy with his car and I haven’t. It was nothing in the brakes, it was just the car wasn’t doing anything I wanted. I think tomorrow will be very hard.”
Due to Stoffel Vandoorne’s grid penalty, Grosjean will start 19th, while his team-mate Kevin Magnussen qualified 14th but moves up one spot due to a penalty for Carlos Sainz Jr.
