Romain Grosjean hinted that Lewis Hamilton did not receive a penalty for impeding him in Q3 because he is a title contender in the 2017 Formula 1 championship.
“I’m not totally happy with P10. The first run in Q3, I got completely blocked by Lewis Hamilton on the last corner losing me at good three-tenths. It cost me a least one position. With the second run, I thought it was going to be fine, but I got to turn three and out of the blue I had massive rear-lock, so I lost almost half a second. I made it back over the lap, so I think we had much more performance than we were showing”, Grosjean explained.
“I’m very unhappy with my first attempt being completely ruined at the last corner. [I am] surprised by the wording [of the decision]. “Driver behind has not been impeded”. If losing 0.3 to 0.4s in one corner is not being impeded I’m very surprised. I think it opens room for a mess in qualifying and the rules are pretty clear. I know that there is a world title going on at the front. But we are in a position where we actually fight as hard as the boys at the front and I was impeded today.”
“Maybe if it was another driver, the sanction would have been something. And it does feel sometimes like there are two types of decisions. I think the title race is an important one but again we are fighting as hard as those boys. We’ve put a lot of work in and yes, I lost 0.35s in two corners. Do I have to get my front wing in his rear diffuser to show that I have been impeded…”
Romain Grosjean: If losing 0.3 to 0.4s in one corner is not being impeded I’m very surprised. Maybe if it was another driver, the sanction would have been something
Great quali and good job from all @HaasF1Team. Q3 didn’t quite go to plan but we have got some more pace in our pocket for the race…?
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) July 15, 2017
