20/03/2015
NEWS STORY
After a one-lap long Australian Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean is reloaded and ready for action at the challenging Sepang circuit.
What will be the main challenges at Sepang?
Romain Grosjean: The first challenges in Malaysia will be the heat, humidity and usual rain storms at 4pm! It's a good track with some interesting corners, fast straights and a track surface that can sometimes be difficult to understand. The heat and humidity can give the cars and drivers something to think about and the rain can give us all a challenge too. For us as a team, the target is to get some race laps on the board.
What did you learn from the Australian Grand Prix?
RG: Albert Park was quite a strong weekend in terms of getting on top of the car, finding strong pace and a good balance and demonstrating good potential, but it was a very brief in terms of race laps, or should I say a race lap?! It was unfortunate that our race was very short because of quite a simple issue, but it's something everyone back at Enstone has been working on. I'm sure we'll have a much better race in Sepang.
What do you do after a frustrating race like the Australian Grand Prix?
RG: It was frustrating to drive back to the pit at the end of the first lap, but despite this we're all very positive in the team. Of course, there were a few choice expressions for a few moments afterwards, but we all have seen that this year's car is good - it has great potential - and we know we'll be delivering strong points finishes very soon, hopefully in Malaysia. For myself, I spoke with the team straight after returning to the pits and we were quite quickly able to work out what had happened. One frustrating race doesn't detract from the full season ahead.
What do you think of the level of competition seen so far in the 2015 season?
RG: It's still early days, but it's clear we've all got a lot of work to do to get to the level of the Mercedes. Behind them the pack is much closer. For us at Lotus F1 Team we know it's the first season with a new engine supplier so we're still learning about the potential. Certainly, the E23 has a lot more to come and it's going to be very exciting working with everyone at Enstone to develop the car yet further.
How good a track is Sepang to race on?
RG: It's one of my favourites. It has a great flow to it and there are good overtaking opportunities as well as good potential for an exciting race. It's a circuit that many drivers like. It's also an interesting track for the engineers working to get the best set-up for the car to work well. It makes for quite a hard race too, as you have the heat and humidity along with the challenge of the track itself. It's going to be fun.
How much of a challenge are the weather conditions?
RG: We haven't done any proper running with this car in the wet, so if we see rain during the course of a session it's going to be a learning experience. The E23 demonstrates pretty good baseline characteristics and its driveability and balance are what you want from a car in the wet so this shouldn't make for too many issues.
What do you think should be possible in the Malaysian Grand Prix?
RG: Our target for the early races is to be regularly in the top ten. We certainly demonstrated that in Albert Park and our race pace simulations were good so if we'd remained in the race we should have finished strongly. There's nothing to suggest this can't be the case in Malaysia and we really want to start scoring points.
Despite an exceptionally short Australian Grand Prix, Pastor is buoyed by the potential of the E23 Hybrid and reckons Sepang should suit the squad.
What are your thoughts looking to Sepang?
Pastor Maldonado: Sepang is a good track and I really like the challenges it presents. It's very interesting from an engineering point of view, especially the aerodynamics, but also the tyres because the asphalt is very aggressive. Hopefully the race will be much longer for us than it was in Australia!
The weather can be quite interesting at Sepang...
PM: We know the weather at Sepang can change a lot; in fact it is usually either extreme heat or extreme rain, so very tropical and we'll need to be ready for everything. Also the high temperatures are hard on the cars in terms of reliability. From the driving point of view it is quite stressful as well. All round, I would say Sepang is one of the toughest races of the year. We'll need to be strong in all areas.
On reflection, what are your thoughts on the Australian Grand Prix?
PM: From our perspective it was a very short race! It was really frustrating as the car looked good all weekend - better even than it had looked in testing - and we had good potential with our race pace and durability. Then my race was undone in the first corners. There was nothing I could do as there was contact occurring behind me which then collected my car. It was difficult to look at the damage done to the car as I knew how hard all the crew in the pits and the rest of the team at Enstone had been working. That's motor racing sometimes, unfortunately. I didn't see much of the rest of the race but I was told it wasn't the most exciting. Hopefully we'll be in action for all of the Malaysian Grand Prix to ensure it's better to watch, and better for our results!
What could have been possible in the race?
PM: Everything looked very positive for a strong top ten finish, maybe even top five. Our car was strong and we adapted to the track well. The weather was in our favour and we had great potential.
Do you think Malaysia could offer similarly strong opportunities?
PM: It's still very early in the season so there will still be surprises as teams learn their cars and unlock their potential. Certainly, everything we've seen so far with the E23 suggests that it should be a good all-rounder. Sepang can get very hot, and our car seems to like hot conditions so that could be a point in our favour.
How difficult is a mixed weather Grand Prix?
PM: We know that we sometimes see heavy rain in Sepang, so it won't be a surprise if we do see mixed conditions this year. Certainly, it can give the engineers a challenge in terms of setting up the car if there's a wet session, or if there's rain between the sessions as it can change the track conditions. It's the same for everyone, of course, and at least it's hot and wet which is far better than cold and wet!
Do you do any particular training for the humidity?
PM: It is very humid in Malaysia, so you do have to ensure you have a good fluid intake, but in terms of training it's a very similar programme to that you follow all year. I work closely with my trainer, Fabrizio, to ensure good all-round fitness, but in particular that I'm as fit as possible to drive an F1 car which is the primary focus. I come from Venezuela so I'm used to hot weather.