Grosjean: I was more tired karting than doing a F1 race

Speaking to Motorsport Network, Grosjean said in a recent interview, "I went karting with my friends using a 125cc gearbox and I was more tired than doing a Formula 1 race."

"Why? Because you push all the time, you don't play safe. And most importantly [in F1] we manage the tyre all the time. At Barcelona, it feels like you are driving at 40% or 50% of the capacity of the car, and it's not hard."

"If it was only qualy laps, you would push as hard every lap and then you'd be completely fucked by the end. You'd be tired. If we had to refuel you'd be even more tired. When you have to lift and coast for fuel and for tyres, how is it hard on the body, how is it hard on the concentration?"

Proof that the modern era cars are easy, even simple, to drive was well illustrated when midfield F2 driver Nikita Mazepin jumped into the pace-setting Mercedes W10 for a day of testing in Barcelona and ended the session fastest of all without breaking much of a sweat. He had never driven the car prior to that day.

There is a school of thought that removing driver aids such as power-steering will do the trick, but Grosjean disagrees, "I think if we run out of power steering we can't turn the steering wheel. So I don't think they're going to change much.

"What we need is a car that we can push. Bring refuelling in and then the car is not 100kg at the beginning. Have 30kg for each stint and then you go a couple of seconds faster, if not more, and so you are much more tired."

At the same time, Grosjean is keen to contribute his opinions about the sport as F1 stakeholders map the future, "We're all aware there's room for improvement in a lot of areas," he said. But if we don't change anything, obviously nothing's going to change.

"Maybe what I am saying is bullshit and I am missing completely part of the equation. When I say we should do this, maybe I forget some reason why we shouldn't. But at least I'm sending ideas. They could be absolutely wrong, they might be not feasible, but I'm trying," added the Frenchman.