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Grosjean admits to tyre struggles

Romain Grosjean: "It's the tyres, and it's not like I can completely change my driving style to save them" © Sutton Images

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Romain Grosjean says the 2013 tyres are at the root of his problems this season but insists his confidence has not been knocked by his slow start to the year.

Grosjean has finished in the points at each round this year but has a total of just 11 compared to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's 49. He is lacking pace to Raikkonen in both qualifying and the race and says he has not yet got the tyres to work in harmony with his driving style and the car.

"It's the tyres, and it's not like I can completely change my driving style to save them," he said. "Every driver has DNA in their driving style and there are things that you cannot change within you. There are things that you can try to make better, but changing from A to Z takes too long. So we need to get bits and pieces together to see if it can change our life or not.

Grosjean said the tyres are so sensitive this year that small margins are the difference between success and disaster.

"If the car is back where we want it will be fine," he added. "We will know quite quickly. The confidence is there. I've won more or less in every type of car I've driven so I just need to put everything together, but it's apparent that the tyres are even more difficult to get in the window than last year, and if you are out for any reason then it's a disaster."

Grosjean explained the car sometimes feels right but often that feeling lasts for just a few laps.

"It's not the easiest situation so far. We thought after qualifying in China it was getting better but the race proved that actually it was not getting that much better. We are working on it and trying to understand as much as we can. We will see here and keep on working to try and find the best relation between car, tyres, track and driver."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.