Grosjean frustrated with Suzuka result

Finishing in his team-mate’s preferred place of P11, Romain Grosjean says he has “never been as frustrated” as he was in Japan as Haas had the pace to beat the Williams.

Grosjean started Sunday’s race inside the top ten but lost places off the line as he had to take action to avoid the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.

Although he tried to close back up on the top ten, he only got as far as P11, losing out the one-stopping Williams drivers.

He said: “I lost a bit of ground into Turn 1 with Hulkenberg just coming in front of me, I almost crashed into him, so that was very close.

“I think we struggled on the first stint with the green track and the softs, they had a lot of graining, but then the car was flying, it was really good, I had some good overtaking.

“I think I’m never been as frustrated in another race, because I think we deserved much more.

“The pace of the car was much faster than the Williams, we just got the life on the hard tyre wrong and we could have pitted earlier on the last stint but the pace was amazing.

“That’s a lot of promise for the future, it’s just so bloody annoying being that close and we couldn’t do anything.”

Haas left with Suzuka without a single point as Esteban Gutierrez was also unable to turn his top ten grid position into points.

Grosjean added: “We didn’t deserve that, honestly. We don’t deserve 11th.

“I’m really, really frustrated about the result, but so optimistic about the updates we’ve brought and the pace we’ve had in the car.”