Haas, Grosjean forced to replace gearbox

The problems encountered this morning during the last three free practices forced Haas to replace the gearbox in Romain Grosjean's car. The Frenchman will therefore serve a five-place penalty for tomorrow's Grand Prix. The Haas standard-bearer, who went wide at the entrance to the Motodrom during the very first phases of free practice 3, subsequently suffered various difficulties with the transmission of his VF16, complaining several times to his pit wall. In the classic end-of-session checks, the American team found the problem with the gearbox, choosing to replace it with a brand new one.

This is the second mechanical problem for Grosjean after the one yesterday afternoon.

Roberto Valenti