Romain Grosjean says his third-place finish during Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix “has the prize of a race win”, with the Lotus ace securing his 10th career podium, the first since the 2013 US GP.
The Frenchman had already showed promise by setting the fourth fastest time in qualifying, although he had to start from ninth for using a new gearbox.
A strong opening lap saw Grosjean quickly move up to seventh before a series of fine overtaking manoeuvres, mostly at Les Combes, propelled the 29-year-old into the top three.
“It’s been an incredible weekend for us,” said Grosjean. “A great qualifying yesterday, unfortunately we had that five-place grid penalty, and then a very good race.
“I can't believe we are on the podium. The guys have been working hard to give us that car and be able to be here today. It’s kind of special. For us, it has the prize of a race win.”
Grosjean was actually already third by Lap 20 but the Lotus driver dropped to fourth when pitting for fresh mediums under the mid-race Virtual Safety Car, while Sebastian Vettel tried to make it a one-stopper.
The Frenchman started hunting down the Ferrari and was right on its tail in the closing stages when the German suffered a right-rear tyre failure, which allowed Grosjean through.
“I was really closing the gap on Seb. It’s very unfortunate he had that puncture and it was a bit of a scary moment, just being behind.
“But I think we got everything we could get today. Starting from P4 on the grid, I’m sure we would have a much easier race but it was really good fun to have all the overtaking at Turn Five, really taking it as hard as I could.
“It probably was one of my best races.”
Click here for Sunday's gallery of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
