Romain Grosjean certain he could have passed Fernando Alonso for European Grand Prix victory

The Lotus driver was running in second position having been passed by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the restart following a safety car, when he slowed down after his car's alternator failed. By that time erstwhile leader Sebastian Vettel had retired and elevated Alonso and Grosjean to a close first and second.

Grosjean said his race had been perfect until that point, and he was hoping the tyre degradation from the Ferrari in front would have given him a chance to get his maiden victory.

"The car stopped, the engine stopped," said Grosjean, who retired on lap 41. "Basically we had an alternator problem and we need to have a deep look into it.

"The race was almost perfect until that point. I had a good start, a good strategy and we pushed when we had to. We had a good performance today.

"It could have been the first win but maybe in the future. I'm sure we are showing good performance and we are getting experience."

The Frenchman was convinced his pace was stronger than that of eventual winner Alonso.

"I think I was looking not too bad and we knew we were quicker than the Ferrari. We just had to wait a little bit to see if their tyres were going away then try to push. But we couldn't get to that stage."