• First Barcelona Test, Day Four

E21 stronger in the wet - Grosjean

ESPN Staff
February 22, 2013 « Final test 'really important' for Ferrari - Massa | FW35 my best Williams yet - Maldonado »
Romain Grosjean was happier with the wet weather performance of this year's Lotus © Sutton Images
Enlarge

Romain Grosjean says the Lotus E21 is better than its predecessor in the wet after experiencing changeable conditions on the final day of the second test.

The majority of Friday's running took place on a wet track, with only a small window in the morning allowing for slicks before the circuit required full wets later in the afternoon. Grosjean said the conditions gave him a chance to work on any issues the team had experienced when it rained last year and that it was now in a better position as a result.

"Last year it's not a secret that we were really struggling in the wet," Grosjean said. "Today we have been trying to work on it and trying to understand and it seems to be better. At least we've done some laps in the wet, which I hadn't done last year; I spun very early in the race in Malaysia and then we had only two qualifying I think in the wet so it wasn't much. So that was good and I think the baseline seems to be reasonable.

"In the wet you're never 100% comfortable when you drive at 200kph in a straight line, but it's better than last year. Still some work to do, to be honest, but it seems to be working better."

During a race simulation on Thursday, Grosjean managed a 24-lap stint on medium tyres which impressed some of the other drivers - notably Nico Hulkenberg who took some convincing that the stint had been so long. However, Grosjean said he's not bothered if other teams start making Lotus one of the pre-season favourites.

"Honestly I don't really look at those things. The most important one is what I feel behind the wheel and that's what counts for me."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close