Grosjean elated with Belgium podium

Romain Grosjean shocked the field by qualifying 4th yesterday and, despite a 5-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, the Frenchman managed to turn that pace into his first podium since the 2013 US Grand Prix.

“It’s unbelievable to be on the podium today,” Grosjean said, “I think yesterday’s qualifying was really good, but we never thought about coming that high on the standings. 31 races, I think, without a podium since Austin 2013, so it’s just great to be here. I think we’re going to celebrate that with a lot of champagne”

Grosjean was in a battle with Sebastian Vettel for the final podium place. The Frenchman was chasing him down on much fresher tyres as the Ferrari was one-stopping, and was in close proximity when the German’s right-rear tyre exploded.

“It would have been difficult, but not impossible [to pass Vettel],” he said, “We kept some really strong performance from the engine for the two last laps, I was getting closer and closer. It was a bit of a scary moment having Sebastian blowing up his tyre in front of me. It’s not the way you want to get to P3, but sometimes in life things are going your way and that was the case today.

Lotus have been grabbing headlines this week, as their financial issues and threat of bailiffs have been circling the paddock. This result is not only a big moral boost for the team, but also puts them a point ahead of their main rivals Force India in the constructor’s championship.

“I was crying on the last lap, so it was hard to see the apex of every corner!”

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