HaasF1 driver Romain Grosjean's Russian Grand Prix was over before it really began when a collision with the Renault of Jolyon Palmer in turn two of the opening lap bounced the Frenchman's VF-17 into the wall and out of the race. He was classified 19th, the same position he stared in.
“We had a great start and I was on the inside of Palmer under braking. I don't know why he turned in,” he said. “I was there and then he turned in. I tried to get as much as I could on the apex, but he just hit me, spun and came back and hit me again.”
“The car was badly damaged and our race was over. I was full of hope that we could understand what was going on over the weekend, get some more mileage and understand things so we can perform at the next race. Though we were maybe not going to score points today, it's always good to be able to see what we could do.”
Meanwhile, by comparison, teammate Kevin Magnussen had an excellent start, picking up three positions to rise to 11th place. When Daniel Ricciardo began experiencing brake problems after five laps, Magnussen picked up another spot and was inside the 10.
Magnussen pitted at the end of lap 21 dropping him back to 14th, as an FIA-mandated five-second penalty was served for exceeding track limits in turn two of the opening lap.
That was basically the end of the race for the Dane and his 14th-place finish was his first outside of the top-10 in his three career Formula One starts at Sochi Autodrom.
“It's been a bit of an off weekend for us, but we've learned from it. We've had some strong weekends in the first three races, then not so strong this weekend for some reason. I guess you always learn and I don't think this is representative for the rest of the season. It's difficult when you have a midfield that's so tight. It doesn't take a big mistake before you fall back. It's not ideal, but I'm looking forward to the next race and the rest of the season.”
Formula One takes a weekend off before returning to action for the Spanish Grand Prix from May 12-14
