Felix Rosenqvist felt the full course yellows cost him an advantage and the chance to move up through the field.
The Mahindra driver had been conserving energy well in his first stint, and looked set to remain in his first car for at least a lap longer. The strategy was his best bet at moving up through the field, with the possibility of making up positions in the pits and the energy advantage in the second stint.
But a crash between Lucas Di Grassi and Antonio Felix da Costa changed the pace of the race. The incident, which happened a few laps before the expected pit window, brought out the yellow flags, which most of the field took advantage of to swap cars.
“I think the only shot I had at proceeding in the field was the strategy, which worked out really well,” he told Read Motorsport. “But then we couldn’t take benefit from it because of the full course yellows. So it’s a shame again. We were a little bit unlucky with the strategy when we have been in front, but we didn’t lose any positions. We stayed fourth and it was a good race.”
Rosenqvist still stayed out a lap longer than most of the field. It was a last minute gamble that could have gone wrong for the Swedish driver.
“I was like ‘should you go in or should you not go in’, and in the last minute we decided,” he said. “It was really the last minute. I was happy that we didn’t get screwed by that. I have to be happy with that.”
One thing Rosenqvist wasn’t happy with was his qualifying. The Mahindra driver ran in the first qualifying group, which many drivers have said is the worst of the groups. Rosenqvist was one of the more lucky drivers that ran in that group, taking seventh and starting the race sixth, but he believes he could have done better.
“I think we were, like in Monaco, in free practice always up there and then, for some reason, we didn’t manage to get the tyres working in the first sector of the qualifying lap,” he said. “That’s the only thing missing now. As soon as we can solve that, I’m sure we can fight for wins.”
Rosenqvist is now sixth in the championship, level on points with Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne.
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