Grosjean says 'I'm best of the rest' - how did Haas hit six in Austrian F1 GP?

On its 30th start as a Formula 1 outfit, Haas' Romain Grosjean ended the Austrian Grand Prix sixth for the team's highest finish of the season.

While team-mate Kevin Magnussen had a torrid weekend - first with a suspension breakage in qualifying which put him 15th on the grid, and then a hydraulic failure during the race which retired his car - Haas had a double-points finish lined up with the pair's pace.

Grosjean ran as high as fourth, losing out to Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap and then the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Finn Kimi Raikkonen, but he held off formidable fourth-place-fighters Force India and the marauding Williams duo behind.

How it unfolded

The former Lotus driver consistently out-qualified not only his team-mate but the Toro Rossos and Force Indias behind, even coming close to Ricciardo's pace in Q1, with a time of 1m05.902s just 0.048s slower than the Australian's, and a Q2 time of 1m05.309s in Q2 a little more than a tenth off the eventual Australian podium-finisher.

The Frenchman's performance in the beginning of the race cemented his position, much like Valtteri Bottas' pitch-perfect start or Ricciardo's leap-frogging of Raikkonen through Turn 2.

But it wasn't a case of being aggressive for Grosjean, rather, he spotted the hazards and kept away from trouble. His starting position of sixth and a solid start, compared to Max Verstappen's lagging launch, allowed Grosjean to avoid the opening lap collision caused Daniil Kvyat's Turn 1 lock-up.

Then, the Force Indias slowed slightly as they duelled with Lewis Hamilton who started from eighth, and Raikkonen who was in the mix having steered into the run-off outside Turn 2 joined the group of four behind Grosjean on lap one to cap off a great start for him.

"I had a really good first lap and was enjoying the racing for a little bit," said Grosjean post-race.

"Lewis [Hamilton] and Kimi [Raikkonen] got past, but I focused on keeping Sergio [Perez] behind.

"We pushed hard all the way and that’s the racing we like."

Fending off the Force Indias

He kept Perez behind by an uneasy, unwavering gap of two seconds until Force India attempted the undercut and had Perez pit on lap 35; Grosjean pitted one lap later to nullify that and with the majority of the midfield electing to take mid-race pit-stops, the Haas exited in relatively clear air and even extended its lead over the following Force India by a further two seconds.

If Perez had the pace to make it within a second of Grosjean, it would still have been difficult to pass under DRS as the turbulence left in the 2017-spec cars still proves a problem for even the fastest machines; Hamilton and Vettel's difficulties were clear in this department as they failed to overtake Ricciardo and Bottas, respectively, late on.

Lagging in a 'lawnmower'

But the weekend didn't start off so well for Grosjean. He described his car as a "lawnmower" in FP2 on Friday having finished 10th. The components for success were there, but the set-up needed work and the tyres needed a little nudge into the working window on Friday. Judging by Saturday's FP3 and qualifying pace, the working window was firmly lodged open for Haas.

The team changed its rear wing in Azerbaijan, an upgrade which suited the long-straights and punishingly tight corners of Baku but also the acceleration-focused Red Bull Ring. It clearly worked along with the Ferrari engine upgrade, which, according to Auto Motor und Sport, gave the V6 a new turbocharger and increased boost along with it.

Highs and lows

"There are a few things we need to improve, but today we were the best of the rest.

"We showed that when we get everything to work on the car we’re strong. It’s the experience of getting everything working in the window all the time that we’re missing a little bit.

"This was only our 30th race ever, so we can’t have everything. I’m looking forward to the next race. Silverstone’s going to be fun."

While Haas was denied a double-points finish, boss Guenther Steiner maintained that Grosjean "drove a calm, solid race," and remains realistic heading into the British GP.

"Highs and lows. The good thing here was that we showed the pace of the car and we had a good race. Unfortunately, Kevin [Magnussen] had a hydraulic problem.

"Again, we were up for having two cars in the points, but we’ll get there.

"We’ll have some lows after this, but we’ll enjoy what we’ve got and keep on digging for more points," concluded Steiner.

The team sits seventh in the constructors' standings before the British GP, four points behind Toro Rosso and 11 points behind fifth-placed Williams.

Grosjean is equal on points with Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg, 13th in the drivers' standings.