Romain Grosjean
The French driver, who at the end of 2015 came off a 5-year stint with Lotus F1, was always a fair midfield driver. At the end of the 2015 season, Grosjean announced he would be signing with F1 debutants Haas, who are the only Formula One team in the last two decades and on the current grid to be based out of the United States.
Debuting with former Ferrari test and development driver Esteban Gutierrez, who made his Formula One debut with Haas in 2014 but was left without a seat in 2015, Grosjean has been consistently impressive this year.
With strong performances at both the Grands Prix of Australia and Bahrain, Grosjean, on both occasions, won the Driver of the Day award. He had a 6th place finish on team debut, pushing both car and tyre to their limits to stave off Force India and Williams.
Grosjean repeated the feat in Bahrain, where he qualified in 9th, knocked out in the dying moments of Q2 by Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg. He managed to move quickly up the grid with some strong overtakes and aggressive racing strategy to finish in 5th.
Critics had dismissed Grosjean’s Australian Grand Prix finish as down to a well-timed safety car, but his Bahrain finish has suggested otherwise. Far from claims of career suicide, Grosjean now finds himself high up the standings, and assisted by a strong Ferrari engine, could put in a fight for top spot.
