Grosjean admits a Renault return would be "lovely"

Romain Grosjean admits that a return to Renault in the future would be "lovely". The Haas driver has endured a slightly mixed 2017 season so far having had many problems with his Haas car this year but has shown that on its day, the VF-17 has a decent amount of pace.

The 2011 GP2 champion has finished inside the points on five occasions so far this season, matching the tally he worked up last year, his first with Haas. Despite the American outfit switching focus to 2018, Grosjean is confident that the team can beat last year's allocation of 29 points.

"We are stronger than last year," he said. "Our development is already focusing on 2018, but as the changes are not massive we can push this car harder now. We can set up the car a bit better and we are making the right choices strategy-wise, so the odds are pretty high that we could even score more points than 29. 

"Kevin [Magnussen] is a good team mate and he is doing a great job. We are getting on very well. We are pushing each other and I would say that it is key to every team to have two drivers who are pushing each other, because if you have a driver who is down a bit on performance then the other also relaxes a bit."

Grosjean was asked if his future could be a return to Renault, as it is a French team. At the age of 31, Grosjean is setting his sights on a move to a championship winning team and admits it would be a wonderful story if it was with Renault.

"No, I haven’t talked with Renault. Going back to Renault one day would be lovely, but it should be the time when we really could be world champions together. That would be a superb situation, but right now it is a bit premature.

"I want to be world champion – that is why I am racing. And that is why I’m getting frustrated. If I cannot fight high enough at the front I get frustrated, because I love winning. To think that my last win was in 2011 – that is six years ago. That really hurts. But since then I’ve never had the car to win."

Fergal Walsh