Romain Grosjean's F1 drive 'priceless' despite slow Haas

Romain Grosjean

Grosjean's F1 drive 'priceless' despite slow Haas

French driver shrugs off being two seconds behind Mercedes

Ewan Gale

Friday 18 September 2020 17:24

Haas driver Romain Grosjean believes the privilege of driving in Formula 1 "has got no price" despite being two seconds per lap slower than Mercedes.

Grosjean's place in F1 is under threat for next season, with Haas team principal Guenther Steiner recently claiming there is a lengthy shortlist of available drivers.

Regardless of the poor performance of this year's car, Grosjean insists he still enjoys racing in F1 because "if not, I’d be home".

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Assessing the honour of being on the F1 grid, Grosjean said: "If you ask me, if I take a step back at what I do, what I drive and which car to drive, yes, I’m two seconds slower than the Mercedes, but still I’m driving the fastest car on earth around tracks.

"Two seconds slower than the fastest, but still one of the fastest on track. That has got no price.

"Obviously, you don’t have the adrenaline of trying to win races or the thrill of going into a race thinking ‘Can I be on the podium? Can I do something special?’ That’s missing and I’m hoping Formula 1 can help with that in the future."

Part of the reason the GDPA director believes this season has been so enjoyable is due to the mix of the venues on the calendar, with new and returning circuits adding a fresh challenge.

The fact he has yet to score a point in a car that has not been upgraded all season has added to the difficulties he has faced this year, with his best result being 12th on three occasions.

But reflecting on his enjoyment of races of this year so far and what is to come, Grosjean said: "I think we’ve been lucky with Spa.

"Monza is fun on its own, I would say. Silverstone wasn’t bad even though I would prefer the previous version. But I think recently we’ve had some good circuits. Barcelona I enjoyed a little bit less and Austria was good.

"So really, the calendar has been good and the circuits have been fun to drive and there are many more to come that will be good.

"I think Russia is not one of the best, but then Nürburgring, Portimão could be really good. Bahrain is always really good for racing.

"As I said, the calendar is a bit different to what we’re used to and that actually makes it very enjoyable. We are competitors, and that’s why we do our job at the end of the day."

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