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Romain Grosjean: Big start less important in 2017

Romain Grosjean says Haas naturally wants to emulate its points-scoring debut at the Australian Grand Prix, though he thinks the team should be more focused on finishing the season on an upward swing.

Grosjean drove to sixth in Australia last year at Haas' first race since joining the grid, a result he bettered at the next race in Bahrain, where he finished fifth. Despite the strong start to the season, F1's newest team suffered numerous problems as the year progressed, with ongoing brake issues still a concern going into the new campaign.

The Australian Grand Prix is renowned for producing surprise results and giving smaller teams a chance of grabbing a big haul of points, but Grosjean thinks a fast start will be less important in 2017 with such big gains to be made from Formula One's new cars throughout the year.