• British Grand Prix

Lotus 'now a big team' - Grosjean

Romain Grosjean believes Lotus can now be ranked alongside Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Race:
• British Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Romain Grosjean

• Teams:
• Lotus F1

Romain Grosjean believes that Lotus has now proved itself as "a big team" by being consistently competitive this season.

Having finished second in Canada, Grosjean was set to challenge for victory as he chased down race leader Fernando Alonso in Valencia when his alternator failed. Despite his retirement, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen still finished second and Grosjean said being able to battle with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren at each race had proven Lotuses stature.

"We made a real step forwards in Valencia, understanding some performance considerations which will help us for the rest of the season," Grosjean said. "I can't wait to put them into practice at Silverstone. Ultimately, we didn't finish, but through no fault of our own. I was as sad as the team. The win was there for the taking, but it just got away. I have to be patient. I didn't achieve my first win in Valencia, but I am convinced that it will come. It's great to fight with World Champions, proper big teams. We are now a big team."

Off the back of the Valencia performance Grosjean thinks that confidence within the team is even higher ahead of the British Grand Prix.

"I think we head to Silverstone with more confidence. We understand a few more things with the car. It was good to have a really hot weekend all the way through at Valencia as we were able to work on the car and really analyse things. Silverstone is very high speed; I'm confident we'll have strong pace and that should lead to a good race."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.