No broken finger but first points of F1 2020 for Grosjean in Eifel GP

Romain Grosjean avoided suffering a broken finger as he scored his first points of the 2020 Formula 1 season at the Eifel Grand Prix.

An eventful race began with Grosjean falling to the very back of the pack after making a poor start from 16th on the grid, before he was hit by gravel that was kicked up when Kimi Raikkonen ran wide in his Alfa Romeo.

Grosjean immediately radioed into his team to report he was in pain amid fears he could have broken his finger, but the Haas driver soldiered on and was duly rewarded for his battling drive on a one-stop strategy to finish ninth and take his first points of the campaign.

“I was understeering and Kimi went in the gravel and it hit me in the wrong place and was quite painful initially," Grosjean explained.

"I thought it was broken initially, there’s a big bruise on the knuckle. But for a few laps I was driving with a straight index finger.”

It marked the first time since last year’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim that the Frenchman had picked up points, and the first time Haas had finished inside the top 10 since Kevin Magnussen took P10 in Hungary earlier this season. 

“I’m very happy for everyone [in the team] and for all the strong work we’ve done recently,” Grosjean said.

“Since Silverstone race one we’ve been really nailing the car and getting better and the stars aligned today.

“When the Safety Car came that was not really good news for me, but we managed to get some temperature back in [to the tyres] and hold onto P9. So that is good news.”