Grosjean never feared losing Haas F1 drive for 2019

Romain Grosjean insists he was “never worried” about losing his Formula 1 seat at Haas for the 2019 campaign, despite a disappointing run of form.

A multitude of mistakes - most notably crashing out under the Safety Car in Baku and causing a first-lap pile-up in Spain - and misfortune resulted in Grosjean’s worst-ever start to an F1 season.

He failed to record any points until July’s Austrian Grand Prix, where a fourth-place finish sparked a turnaround in form, with the Frenchman going on to record points in Germany, Hungary, Belgium and last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Haas announced an unchanged driver line-up for next season ahead of last month’s Russian Grand Prix, retaining the partnership of Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen for a third straight year.

“I don’t want this to sound wrong but I was never worried that I wouldn’t be here next year,” Grosjean said.

“At one point after Silverstone I knew it couldn’t keep going that way but I knew I had the solution somewhere and I knew I could bounce back.

“I thought Germany was the point, I was good and then I knew the team would see it and we would work it through.

“If I kept going as early on and it wouldn’t have worked but from the point I knew exactly what I needed to do then I was convinced things would go in a positive way.”

Grosjean, who has been with the American squad since its debut in 2016, pinpointed this year’s German Grand Prix as the crucial race he felt he had turned around his fortunes.

"I knew from Germany I was back on form,” he explained. "Things had to turn at one point. The season looked worse than it was actually was sometimes because of bad luck.

“Bahrain I was in the points and lost half the car, then Canada I think I was scoring points and didn't make qualifying.

"Silverstone was the time when [I thought], 'OK, I need to understand things and make sure that things are going my way all the time'.

"Then Germany and Hungary I knew I was back on track."