Haas driver Romain Grosjean says he left frustrated by the Sauber drivers after losing time during the early stages of the Chinese Grand Prix.
He described his grid penalty for failing to slow for Antonio Giovinazzi’s crashed car in Q1 a “joke” and he lost ground after the Italian’s accident in the opening laps of the race.
Grosjean said he then lost further time behind Marcus Ericsson on the safety car restart, with the Swede leaving too big a gap between his Sauber and the car ahead.
“Yesterday [Saturday] was a bit of a joke and in the race the same guy crashed in front of me on the straight line, so I had to stop,” he explained. “I lost a lot of time.
“Then Ericsson at the restart left miles ahead of the car in front of me. I don’t know what he was doing, so I was already on the back foot.
“[Esteban] Ocon pushed me on the first lap. I lost half of the right-hand side of the car. From there I just pushed as hard as I could.
“I had some good lap times. We were doing a decent job, but it was already too late. It was not easy on strategy. The guys did the best job they could.”
Grosjean finished 11th, while team-mate Kevin Magnussen delighted in eighth place, the first ever points for his side of the Haas garage.
“It was a good race," said Magnussen. "I had fun out there and I had a good car all the way through the race.
“I was able to look after the front tyres, which I think was key, along with working with the team to get the car in the right window. The race was really well managed from the team.
“It’s so much more fun when you’re fighting in the points. I’m happy for the team and we’re looking forward to the coming races."
Haas moved up to seventh in the standings as a result of Magnussen's points.
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