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DRIVER Romain Grosjean hopes to have an added sparkle in his step by the time the Formula One roadshow roars into Bahrain for the fourth round of the grand prix season.
He looked down and disappointed as he walked towards members of the media at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) at the weekend and when asked if he was looking forward to the opening race in Australia, he honestly replied: “Not really.”
Technical problems, with one Lotus engineer suggesting hydraulic issues, another an electrical problem and problems with the car’s MGU-K unit, which recovers energy from the rear axle to supplement power, meant Grosjean completed just 33 laps and was nearly nine seconds off the pace on Saturday.
Only a mention of past glories at the BIC’s Sakhir circuit appeared to lift his spirits in the way a sip of the team’s new sponsor energy drink Burn will help deliver a dent to Red Bull’s dominant position in the marketplace, as well as on the track.
“Bahrain, I quite like the place,” he told GulfWeekly. “Every time I have come here I have been on the podium, either winning a race or finishing third. In Formula One – so far I’ve come third twice, 100 per cent on the podium – it’s good!”
According to Grosjean, the constant barrage of problems since means the team is heading to the first few races unprepared, without the time on the track necessary to be ready to race at its full potential.
“The problem this year is that when you break something it takes between two and three hours to solve the problem,” he said. “So if you have three issues in a day that’s the end of the day. It is like this for now and, yes, in terms of preparation we are not quite yet ready.
“It’s not going to be perfect for Melbourne, and probably not for Malaysia, but we will do our best and try to do things as good as we can do them to steadily improve everything.
“The list is too long to have ticked everything before Melbourne, and in Melbourne we won’t have time to get everything we would like to. At the moment this is the situation and the best we can do is take the most serious one, put that right and then finalise the thing. It’s not an ideal situation – far from that – and it’s not going to be an easy first few races I guess.”
This season will mark Grosjean’s third as a full-time Lotus driver while for the first time he has a new team-mate. Partnered with Kimi Raikkonen for the past two years, this campaign Grosjean will race alongside former Williams man Pastor Maldonado.
And, as the more experienced with the team, Grosjean, who holds dual Franco-Swiss nationality, is looking forward to taking on a team leader role. “I think continuity will be important this year with all the rule changes,” said the 27-year-old.
“I like the team and I think we do a very good job together so I’m happy to keep going, and I’m happy that we’re together for this challenge.
“We have a common aim for the future and we want to win races and win championships.
“We’ll work as hard as we did to achieve even more than last year. I am ready to lead the way with this challenge.”
Grosjean took his first podium in F1 in Bahrain in 2012 and repeated the success last year. He also won in Bahrain in the GP2 Asia Championship in 2008.
He does, however, enter this year’s championship still seeking his first grand prix victory. Although he has claimed nine podium results, the first F1 win still eludes him.
“I don’t know when it will come, I’ve come close a few times and nine podiums with the team is a good record. We just need to keep doing our best, keep trying to optimise everything we can from the first day we have on a race track to the Sunday and to get a good car.
“I trust the people here to try to give me all the tools we need to achieve that win – it’s a good car, a good engine, we have good strategy, we have good engineers and mechanics, and a good driver.
“So I’m looking forward to try and will go for it, and the day it comes, we’ll have a big party!”
If Lotus can get its act together, the big bash could well be staged in Bahrain.
