Romain Grosjean says the brakes issues that have been hampering his and Haas F1 Team’s progress across recent races are “too much” and “could be dangerous”, after he endured another frustrating day of practice ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Frenchman had a big moment in FP1 when he went off at the second of the Degner Curves on the daunting Suzuka layout. Despite vowing to tone his feedback down following previous radio outbursts, Grosjean could not refrain from labelling his brakes as “sh*t” later in the afternoon.
The 31-year-old, who retired with a brake disc failure in Malaysia last weekend, explains that his anger is not aimed at the team but rather at its brake provider Brembo.
“You drive at 320km/h and the brake doesn't work, how would you react?,” Grosjean said. “It could be dangerous. Yes, there are things I don't accept. It's not against the team, it's against the suppliers.
“I crashed because the brakes didn't work, so I think it's normal to be a bit annoyed. Everywhere it is dangerous but here especially because of the very high speeds.
“The last race we were lucky to escape with nothing bad to happen and then here the brakes don't work again so it is a bit too much.”
Grosjean also admits the repeated problems have made him slightly more tentative under braking.
“It is not ideal let us put it that way but of course then you don't go for the last five metres of braking zone. Qualifying is a different story but in free practice we have to take it carefully.
“It could be wet too so it may be hard to find the right solution. Hopefully we can change it for tomorrow and make it better.”
Haas’ practice mishaps did not limit to Grosjean's car, as team-mate Esteban Gutierrez triggered a Virtual Safety Car in FP2 after stopping his VF-16 ahead of the Degner bends with a turbo issue.
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