Q&A with Romain Grosjean - I made an error

A mixed afternoon for Romain during qualifying for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix ; showing strong pace throughout the day before beaching his E20 in the gravel in the dying moments of the second session. Here, the Frenchman reflects on his performance and looks ahead to what can be achieved from tenth on the grid…

What were the conditions like out there before the red flag ?

At the very beginning of the second session it was ok, but then it rained so much that we simply couldn’t drive the cars in those conditions any longer. It was very difficult even on the straights. The officials took the right decision to stop the session which for the fans wasn’t ideal as they had to wait in the pouring rain. However, it allowed us to restart qualifying in decent conditions.

How was the car… ?

I had quite a good rhythm in qualifying today ; the car was pretty strong. I made an error and then was unlucky as the car went backwards into the gravel. That’s when knew I would not come back out of it…

What are your hopes for the race tomorrow ?

Tomorrow’s race will be very long and we’re not quite sure of the conditions we will face. I still have three sets of intermediate tyres that are entirely new so that’s a good thing for the race. If we can stay on the circuit from start to finish we could have a good day. I think it could be a crazy afternoon that will be entertaining to watch. Pole position is a tiny bit less important this weekend because of the weather conditions and the nature of the circuit – compared to Valencia for example – so there will hopefully be opportunities we can take. Also, the leader will have less spray but will be the first car on track so there are other risks like aquaplaning. A circuit like Silverstone is fantastic in the dry because it’s so fast but we’ll take the conditions that we’ll have and do the best job possible.