HaasF1 driver Romain Grosjean qualified seventh for Sunday afternoon's Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.However, the Frenchman will start sixth due to a five-place grid penalty being served by Lewis Hamilton.
Grosjean's starting position equals Haas F1 Team's best grid slot to date when he qualified an outright sixth for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix eight races ago.
The sixth-place starting spot was earned by Grosjean advancing all the way to Q3 for the fourth time this season. He set the eighth-fastest time in Q1 with a lap of 1:05.902 around the 4.318-kilometer (2.683-mile), 10-turn track to move on to Q2.
He then set a 1:05.319 in Q2 to record the seventh-quickest time and advance into the final round of qualifying. There, a lap of 1:05.480 before an electronic issue forced Grosjean to stop on track maintained his seventh-place standing.
“We've been quick all weekend, Kevin and I. We've both been pretty happy with the car. Unfortunately, Kevin had the suspension issue in Q1, otherwise I think he would've been up there with us,” Romain said. “In between Q1 and Q2 we found some performance.”
“We had good grip in the car. I think we just lost an electric connection on the car at the end. I'm hoping it's nothing more serious than that. It's a long race tomorrow. It's going to be tough on the brakes, tough on the engine and tough physically. It's the second time this year though, after Melbourne, where I feel the tires are working well and I can really enjoy myself and push the car to the limit.”
