Romain Grosjean: “It’s always good to be at the front”

“It was a good day”, declares Romain Grosjean. On his Lotus E21, the Frenchman dominated this second day of testing pre-season in Jerez, Spain. Over the 95 laps covered, he displayed a very fast pace throughout the tests, setting the best time of the day in 1?18??218, or 0??786 better than his closest pursuer, Paul di Resta , on his Force India. Aware that conclusions should not be drawn too quickly from this good performance, the Lotus driver nevertheless does not shy away from his pleasure at seeing his name at the top of the timesheet.

“We accomplished the planned program and we demonstrated reliability”, he explains. “As far as I am concerned, the tests went well, which bodes well for the year to come. My feeling in the car is good and it's a pleasure to finish at the top of the times. Even if it doesn't mean much during practice, it's always good to be at the front. We used the soft, medium and hard tires and although we're not 100% on each, we have a good idea. Kimi will be working on this area for the next two days, so we will have a better understanding when we arrive in Barcelona. It is not yet easy to understand everything about the car and the tires, but I think we have worked quite well and it is up to us to find the best solutions?, concludes the Frenchman.

For the next two days of testing at Jerez, Thursday and Friday, Romain Grosjean will give way to Kimi Räikkönen.

Results of the second day of testing in Jerez:
1/ Romain Grosjean – Lotus – (1’18”218)
2/ Paul Di Resta – Force India – (1’19”003)
3/ Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso – (1’19”134)
4/ Mark Webber – Red Bull – (1’19”338)
5/ Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber – (1’19”502)
6/ Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes – (1’19”519)
7/ Sergio Pérez – McLaren – (1’19”572)
8/ Felipe Massa – Ferrari – (1’19”914)
9/ Pastor Maldonado – Williams – (1’20”693)
10/ James Rossiter – Force India – (1’21”273)
11/ Giedo Van der Garde – Caterham – (1’21”311)
12/ Luiz Razia – Marussia – (1’23”367).