Grosjean in peril amid early season wobble

Romain Grosjean has endured a torrid start to the 2018 Formula 1 season with Haas, and as Rob Watts explains, the Frenchman must not fall into the trap of believing his seat is safe due to his past success with the American team.

HITTING THE HEIGHTS

Although it's been almost three years since Grosjean stood on an F1 podium, you could make a case to say his stock has arguably risen since he joined the fledgling Haas team two seasons ago.

A string of eye-catching results, including a sixth and fifth place in the team's first two races, led many to believe that Grosjean had pulled off a masterstroke by jumping ship from the struggling Lotus team, despite it being on the verge of a full Renault takeover at the time.

With ambitions to race for Ferrari, Grosjean's move was seen as a risk at the time but those early season results quickly silenced his doubters. A solid second season alongside new team-mate Kevin Magnussen gave him and the Haas team more reason for optimism.

Now in his eighth season in F1, Grosjean has, as he puts it, "one of the best cars" he's ever driven, but unfortunately for him it's coincided with a dramatic downturn in form that has left the Frenchman one of only two drivers yet to score a point this season.

WHAT'S GOING WRONG?

To make matters worse for Grosjean, Magnussen has had his best start to an F1 season and his superb form in the second Haas car has elevated him to ninth in the drivers' championship.

Every driver suffers a lean spell at some point in their career, but Grosjean's recent errors have been particularly frustrating for Haas because they know he's capable of so much better.

For all his obvious qualities, two of Grosjean's major weaknesses seem to have reappeared this season, which doesn't bode well for a driver this late on in his career. His crash under safety car conditions in Baku cost the team dearly on a day when big points were on offer.

He's been known to suffer momentary lapses of concentration in the past - such as his clumsy crash on the formation lap in Brazil two years ago - but the Baku one was bad even by Grosjean's standards.

While he may be a more composed driver than the one who earned a race ban six years ago, his ability to make decisions under pressure are still called into question. His flooring of the throttle to recover a first-lap spin in Barcelona was ill-advised at best, and downright stupid at worst, considering he was surrounded by cars jostling for position.

The two drivers to be eliminated in that incident - Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly - were both critical of Grosjean's actions, and the stewards took a dim view as well by slapping a three-place grid penalty on him to be served this weekend in Monaco - the last place you'd want one of those.

THE BLAME GAME

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Grosjean said he's not worried about his recent results and that the media are "making a mountain out of a molehill" by suggesting his F1 future is at stake.

Grosjean may feel he's owed the support of his team after all that he's achieved with them, but F1 teams have short memories when prize money is at stake, and it would be a risky move for him to believe his seat is safe if results don't improve.

And let's not forget, the "mountain out of a molehill" that Grosjean speaks of is not just the five races so far this season. He hasn't scored a point since the Japanese Grand Prix in October, and he's been outqualified by Magnussen in seven of the past 10 races.

But when things are going his way, Grosjean is more than a match for Magnussen and he knows it. This is the same guy who ruffled Kimi Raikkonen's feathers at Lotus, and has stood on an F1 podium 10 times during his career, so why has his form deserted him now?

Maybe the answer lies with the man in the garage next to him.

Magnussen's rise since joining Haas means Grosjean is no longer the de facto team leader, and for a driver that relies so much on confidence, that might just make the difference in terms of his ability to retain focus during a Grand Prix weekend.

Grosjean is a driver for whom confidence plays a major role in his ability to deliver on track. He's admitted in the past how affected he was by the criticism he received from his fellow drivers during his error-prone 2012 season, and he says he has used a psychologist ever since.

"We use engineers to set-up the car and we use coaches to improve our physical performance," he has said. "Why wouldn't you use a psychologist to improve your brain and the way it works?"

TIME'S UP?

The problem now for Grosjean is that he's no longer a developing driver who will be given the benefit of the doubt for his mistakes, he is a senior performer expected to beat a guy like Magnussen, who himself had his confidence dented after troubled spells with McLaren and Renault.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has backed his driver to turn his season around, but don't be fooled into thinking Steiner's not concerned by Grosjean's dip in form.

Despite his jovial demeanour, Steiner has shown himself to be ruthless when it comes to making decisions for the better of the team - just ask Esteban Gutierrez.

Grosjean will be given the chance to turn things around as Haas know that when's he good, he's very good. He's shown before that he's able to dig himself out of bad patches during his time in F1, but how he recovers from this one may just define the remaining years of his F1 career.