Romain Grosjean looks to the Chinese Grand Prix, at Shanghai International Circuit, with a yearning to score his first points of the season in the Lotus E23 which he believes is a handy piece of kit with untapped potential.
What are your thoughts on the Shanghai circuit?
Romain Grosjean: It’s quite a particular circuit where it is not always easy to find the right setup and the temperature can also be cold. You never know what to expect, except that there will be a monster traffic jam to get to the circuit! I scored my first Formula 1 points at Shanghai in 2012 and scored points again in 2013 so let’s hope that’s a good omen. Certainly, we’re better placed than when we last visited the track.
Romain Grosjean: It’s quite a particular circuit where it is not always easy to find the right setup and the temperature can also be cold. You never know what to expect, except that there will be a monster traffic jam to get to the circuit! I scored my first Formula 1 points at Shanghai in 2012 and scored points again in 2013 so let’s hope that’s a good omen. Certainly, we’re better placed than when we last visited the track.
Looking back over Malaysia how was the weekend overall?
RG: It was hot and humid, especially in the qualifying session. Generally it was a good weekend with strong performance through the qualifying session, however in the race things didn’t quite work out the way we wanted. There are still a lot of good positives we take to the next races and when it all comes together it’s going to be very nice.
RG: It was hot and humid, especially in the qualifying session. Generally it was a good weekend with strong performance through the qualifying session, however in the race things didn’t quite work out the way we wanted. There are still a lot of good positives we take to the next races and when it all comes together it’s going to be very nice.
How thirsty were you after the race because of your drinks system not working properly?
RG: My drinks system wasn’t working from lap 20 onwards so I was certainly pretty thirsty by the time I got to the end of the race! I soon rehydrated and it wasn’t so much of a problem when I got back to the cold of Europe.
RG: My drinks system wasn’t working from lap 20 onwards so I was certainly pretty thirsty by the time I got to the end of the race! I soon rehydrated and it wasn’t so much of a problem when I got back to the cold of Europe.
What did you need to be able to pass Hulkenberg?
RG: I could have passed him, not in the first few laps of the race when his tyres were as new as mine, but later on – as we did after the first pit stop – but we didn’t have 100% performance from the engine which made it difficult to make the overtaking manoeuvre.
RG: I could have passed him, not in the first few laps of the race when his tyres were as new as mine, but later on – as we did after the first pit stop – but we didn’t have 100% performance from the engine which made it difficult to make the overtaking manoeuvre.
How did it feel and what were you thinking during the 360° spin in Sepang?
RG: I had a few choice expressions as it was quite a high speed 360 and not quite in the place where you want it to happen. I thought it looked pretty good when I saw it afterwards – perhaps my ice racing in the winter helped me here!
RG: I had a few choice expressions as it was quite a high speed 360 and not quite in the place where you want it to happen. I thought it looked pretty good when I saw it afterwards – perhaps my ice racing in the winter helped me here!
Do you think the car has good potential for China?
RG: Shanghai is always quite a particular race track so it’s quite difficult to predict. It’s often pretty cold and the front is the limitation of the car as you look to avoid understeer. I think we have a lot of tools at our disposal to try to make our car work well and I’m sure we’ll have a good race.
RG: Shanghai is always quite a particular race track so it’s quite difficult to predict. It’s often pretty cold and the front is the limitation of the car as you look to avoid understeer. I think we have a lot of tools at our disposal to try to make our car work well and I’m sure we’ll have a good race.
You’ll go from probably one of the hottest races to likely one of the coldest – does this affect you as a driver?
RG: It’s not so much the change in temperature than the jet lag you get in the early part of the season from flying to different countries. We’ve seen that China can be pretty cold and drizzly in the past and you don’t get to see the sun there too many times. The weather’s the same for everyone and you’re not thinking about it too much when you’re in the car, you’re just thinking about how to go faster.
RG: It’s not so much the change in temperature than the jet lag you get in the early part of the season from flying to different countries. We’ve seen that China can be pretty cold and drizzly in the past and you don’t get to see the sun there too many times. The weather’s the same for everyone and you’re not thinking about it too much when you’re in the car, you’re just thinking about how to go faster.
Do you think there’s potential to have a number of different race winners in 2015, now we’ve seen two different drivers win the first two races?
RG: It was good to see Ferrari win in Malaysia and I think it was good for Formula 1. They worked well in Malaysia and I think they’ll be a force in the hot races. I think China should play more to the Mercedes but we’ll be fighting to do our best and present a challenge too.
RG: It was good to see Ferrari win in Malaysia and I think it was good for Formula 1. They worked well in Malaysia and I think they’ll be a force in the hot races. I think China should play more to the Mercedes but we’ll be fighting to do our best and present a challenge too.
China’s a back-to-back race with Bahrain – is this a tiring format / are there any special considerations with a back-to-back race combo?
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