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Grosjean still waiting to unlock E21's potential

Romain Grosjean has been struggling to extract consistent performance from his Lotus © Sutton Images

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Romain Grosjean has admitted frustration after struggling to get to grips with the new Lotus E21 at the opening two rounds of the season.

Grosjean struggled to a single point at the opening round in Australia while his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen won the opening round in dominant style. In Malaysia he was more comfortable with the car and finished ahead of Raikkonen in sixth.

"It's been a little frustrating as I don't think I've shown my full potential yet," he said. "The first two races were quite difficult for me and I would really like a weekend where I can show what myself and the team can do this season. We've got great potential, I just need to unlock it. Hopefully we'll find the key in China."

He said the problem at the opening rounds was inconsistent performance from the car.

"We have definitely made progress," he said. "It's been frustrating for me as sometimes the car gives me what I want and sometimes it doesn't, even if the conditions and setup are very similar. I've been working closely with my engineers and we made good progress over the last race weekend. The car and the latest tyres seem to be very sensitive to having the balance exactly right so that's what we're focusing on."

In Malaysia Lotus had just one upgraded exhaust system and opted to run it on Raikkonen's car, but next weekend in China Grosjean will also benefit from the upgrade.

"We've been making steps forward with performance and that's always what you want. The new front wing was beneficial and I'm looking forward to getting the latest exhaust configuration in China. Kimi used it in Sepang and it was definitely of benefit to the car."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.