Grosjean: 'I like that Leclerc tried so hard'

No points for Sainz

In tricky conditions, Red Bull Racing was the better side, but Grosjean believes Ferrari did a "good job" as a team. "They had a fast car, but the drivers didn’t get it 100% perfect. Carlos Sainz crashed in qualifying, and had contact in lap one of the race. I don’t think there was much he could do there but he ended up in the gravel. Maybe if he had started nearer the front it would have been a different story."

Whether the Frenchman is entirely right about that is debatable. Sainz may have driven the tenth fastest time in qualifying, but thanks to the sprint race he started on the second row of the grid from P4. The Ferrari driver didn't have a great start, immediately seeing Daniel Ricciardo next to him. The Australian was a little too enthusiastic and hit Sainz, making him a passenger in his own car.

It meant no points for Sainz. Leclerc then looked to make the most of it by crossing the line in third, but he too was a little too enthusiastic. The world championship leader wanted to catch up with Sergio Perez, but that resulted in a spin. "Charles Leclerc drove really hard. I like that he tried so hard to get P2 in the race. Trying to overtake Perez, he sent it at the chicane and lost the rear and was very lucky not to damage more of the car."

Could Leclerc have driven on?

Grosjean philosophizes aloud that Leclerc might have been better off driving on with his damaged front wing. After all, his pit stop caused him to fall back an awful lot, although he still managed to finish sixth. At the same time, Grosjean realizes that the engineers probably had enough data to justify making an extra pit stop.