• Lotus news

Problems are in the past - Grosjean

Romain Grosjean is much more confident in his car after scoring a podium in Bahrain © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Drivers:
• Eric Boullier
• |
• Romain Grosjean

• Teams:
• Lotus F1

Romain Grosjean feels as though his season has been given a new lease of life after he overcame his early problems at the Bahrain Grand Prix and finished third on the podium.

Grosjean struggled to match the pace of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen at the opening three races and was 38 points behind the lead Lotus heading to Bahrain. However, after the team changed his chassis and found some set-up solutions he finished on the podium at Sakhir, albeit still one place behind Raikkonen.

"We've had consistency already, finishing every race in the points, but now it's the big results we're chasing and getting the car as I want it has been a vital ingredient," he said. "Now I have the tools that I want at my disposal I can really push. In some ways you can say my season starts now! My podium in Bahrain was a very good start to that challenge. If we keep working the way we have been so far this season as a team I'm sure we can achieve great things."

Grosjean said the problem was not down to an issue with his original chassis but is confident he has identified where things were going wrong.

"It's no secret that before Bahrain my feeling hasn't been right with the car," he said. "It wasn't the chassis, the aero or anything like that, but we took a while to get everything to my liking and that's been frustrating. We managed to put our finger on the issue and I feel much more comfortable now. I really had a good sensation behind the wheel on Sunday in Bahrain, and a podium position at the end of the race was the result. I could put the car more or less where I wanted which is all you want as a driver. Third place was a deserved reward for everyone after all our hard work."

Grosjean added that he is now much happier with the car as it is being developed.

"We've been able to see progress with the lap times so we know that the upgrades being brought in are working. Last year's car was already very competitive - we achieved a total of 10 podiums in 2012 - so it's good to see the team has retained and developed the best performing areas of the 2012 car for the E21. For me, after Bahrain, I'm feeling much more at home with the car and I hope that there will be many successes to come in 2013."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.