Opening his points tally will be Grosjean's focus in France

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Nothing less than points - his first of the season - will satisfy Romain Grosjean at his home race in France next weekend.

The Haas driver has been on the receiving end of his team's bad luck and a few mishaps of his own that have resulted in him being the only driver along with Williams' Sergey Sirotkin not to have scored a point this season.

The Frenchman is growing impatient as he knows he has a car that can deliver the goods, as team mate Kevin Magnussen has aptly demonstrated. His home race therefore offers a good opportunity to play catch up.

"I want to get a good weekend, have some luck, get my first points of the season, and get a lot of support from the fans," he says in the team's French GP preview.

"I think we should be in a nice place at Paul Ricard. I’m always looking forward to jumping back in the car. I just love driving an F1 car."

Gasly expecting 'special feeling' to prevail at home race

To support his claim, Grosjean points to Haas' recent updates which have made him feel more comfortable behind the wheel of the VF-18

"I liked the updates we had. It really felt like it gave me what I was lacking earlier on in the season," says the 32-year-old.

"I thought P7 in Montreal would be ours. Not being able to qualify didn’t help us, but we made up a lot of ground in the race. Unfortunately, there was too much ground to make up.

“Hopefully, they’ll be even more powerful at Paul Ricard than they were in Canada, just because of the downforce. They gave us some front-end on the car, and that really helped me."

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A home Grand Prix is always a boost for driver, but racing on home turf usually also implies a lot of solicitations and promotional work.

Grosjean will take it all in his stride, but his focus will remain on the racing.

"Well, we go to a Grand Prix to race, and to race well. That’s the number one priority," he says.

"Of course, I want to give as much as I can to the fans, but the racing on Sunday is what I’m going for, and that’s what we need to focus on."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.