Räikkönen is an ideal teacher to Grosjean in theory

It's soon 9 o'clock in the evening... Romain Grosjean walks to the interview-corner smiling politely and calm as a lamb.

All over-aggressivity which has stamped the youngster's driving from time to time seems to have fallen off.

Grosjean flew to Singapore with his new trainer Benoit Camparque. Camparque is an ex Europe Champion in judo and an Olympic sportsman, who trained Teddy Riner in London when he became the gold medalist in boxing.

Grosjean met the judo-stars in London and that's where he got the idea of co-operation.

Then how did Grosjean end up with judo-teachings - his weakness is certainly not avoiding battles?

– I wanted to change certain things and now I have a new person with me. It's great when the trainer has know-how from the top level and he himself has been a representative sportsman. I don't think that a certain fighting streak is bad. If you are too aggressive in judo, then you also get out, Grosjean justifies.

Knowledge from Alonso and Räikkönen

On Sunday the 26-year old Frenchman will drive his career's 20th GP. He drove 7 of his races with Fernando Alonso and 12 so far with Kimi Räikkönen.

Which one has changed more ever since you began - you as a driver or as a teammate when comparing Alonso to Räikkönen?

– I would say that we have both changed a lot. I myself am now more mature as a driver and as a person than I was three years ago. Kimi on the other hand is very different from Fernando - just as a Finn is different from a Spaniard.

– They have different characters, but what is common for both of them is how hard they work during the whole GP-weekend. They only concentrate on the race, they always look for improvements in the car and in their own driving and they never give up at any point, Grosjean sums up.

Did you have time to learn something from Alonso during your short time together?

– I learned some stuff. I saw the way he worked, although it wasn't his best time. For me it was good to have such a great champion as a teammate.

An enviable ability to finish the race

Have you learned more from Räikkönen?

– I have learned different stuff. One has to remember that I am now three years older and also more experienced.

– The most important lesson that I have learned as Kimi's teammate is his spectacular ability to always finish with points. He knows how to avoid the hassle and he always brings the car to the finishing line. That's an example for everybody, Grosjean emphasizes.

Alonso critisized after Belgium how certain young F1-drivers still follow the GP2-culture.

It crashes every now and then in GP2-races. Is the GP2-mentality Grosjean's, Pastor Maldonado's, Sergio Perez's and Bruno Senna's mutual problem?

– We are all different. When it comes to me the errors look more blatant since I have been fighting in the top. There is a lot at stake in the top, an immense amount of pressure and hence each mistake grows bigger than it is.

– You have maybe a tenth of a second to do the right or wrong decision. Life becomes more difficult when you are up against F1-champions who have a lot of experience. The battles in the back aren't seen the same way, Grosjean justifies.

France is expecting a new winner

How tough was it to be only a spectator in Monza GP due to your ban?

– It really wasn't the most exciting race from my point of view. However it was good to be on the pitwall with the radio and listen to everything Kimi did during the whole weekend. My team learned a lot from that. I hope that what we have thought about in theory, will also help us in the future and that it also works in practice.

What kind of an impact did Grosjean's three podiums have on the F1-interest in France?

– Of course good results are good for France, but winning would mean really much. It has been a long time since a Frenchman won a GP-race. I believe that fans have again started to like F1. If I would get a victory for their pleasure, then I would be very proud of it.

Grosjean eagerly admits, that 4-time WDC Alain Prost is always brought up first when a Frenchman talks about F1.

Turun Sanomat, Singapore

HEIKKI KULTA

Facts 

Romain Grosjean

Born 17.4.1986 in Genova, Switzerland

Nationality: French

Wife: Marion Jolles

Teams: Renault 2009 and Lotus 2012

GP2-champion 2011

19 GPs, 3 podiums, 76 points. 

Courtesy: Nicole

Video: Press Conference after Canadian GP 2012 with Top 3 drivers

Canadian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton pays credit to his McLaren team who "never seem to give up" whilst thanking his fans for their positive messages of support.


Romain Grosjean reveals that his Lotus team had looked to complete a one-stop strategyanddescribes a "crazy" end to the race that saw him up to second.

Sergio Perez describes the great boost the third place gives his Sauber team after their bad luck of the final few races.


Source: NinetyBucks

Identical times for Grosjean and Kobayashi

Romain Grosjean and Kamui Kobayashi posted exactly the same time on day two of the in-season test in Mugello

Lotus' Grosjean posted a 1:21.603 early in the day to claim the P1 honours before lunch and it looked like no one would match his time until Sauber's Kobayahshi popped up with the same time very late in the day.

Kobayashi, who was responsible for the only red flag of the day after spinning into the gravel in the afternoon, posted his time just moments before the chequered flag came out to signal the end of Wednesday's session.

Lotus later reported via Twitter that Grosjean, who replaced team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in the E20 on day two after the team opted not to run the Finn in Mugello, claimed 'P1 by the smallest margin imaginable! Less than 1 thousandth of a second!'

After the heavy downpours limited teams' running on Tuesday, the drivers made the most of the fine weather in Tuscany and opted to run their various aero sensors instead of going for all-out pace.
The Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were third and fourth fastest respectively. World Champion Vettel took over driving duties from his Australian team-mate in the afternoon and his best time was 0.222s slower than that of the top two.

Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso duo Jean Eric-Vergne and Daniel Riccoardo were next best.
Michael Schumacher was by far the busiest man on day two in Mugello having completed 144 laps. His best effort though was only good enough for P8.

McLaren, who have opted not to run race drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, were down in 11th place with Gary Paffett managing a 1:24.480 as his best effort.
The team later reported that they focused on "improvements to aero correlation and broadening our understanding of tyre temperature and behaviour" while "progress was brought to a premature end at 15:00 when a gearbox issue ended the day's running".

It was a tough day at the office for Force India's Paul di Resta as he could only manage 14 laps as he was forced to spend most of the day in the garage with a suspected hydraulics problem.

Times
01. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:21.603
02. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:21.603
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1.21.825 +0.222
04. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:21.997 +0.294
05. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:22.257 +0.654
06. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:22.422 +0.819
07. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:22.588 +0.985
08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:23.404 + 1.801s
09. Charles Pic Marussia 1:23.982 +2.379
10. Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:24.312 +2.709
11. Gary Paffett McLaren 1:24.480 +2.877
12. Timo Glock Marussia 1:24.610 +3.007
13. Paul di Resta Force India 1:24.749 +3.146
14. Bruno Senna Williams 1:24.842 +3.239

Source: Planet-F1

New Lotus almost as good as Alonso's Renault at his best days

The new Lotus car, E20 built for Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean, is so good that it is even dared to compare to Renault R25 car in which Fernando Alonso got his first world championship in 2005 - against Räikkönen in McLaren.

Technical Director James Allison and track operations manager Alan Permane were Alonso's trusted men in Renault at the time.

Prior to testing the new car both of them named R25 the best car which they have worked with.

- It looked cool and aggressive from all point of view. I really liked the color, all the appendages, additional wings, exhaust pipes in the chassis, and about all that current rules, unfortunately, no longer permits, Allison praised.

- R25 was a fantastic car. Very easy to setup, predictable and fast. Drivers loved it, Permane pointed out.

- While last year we went wrong, we now know we have done a good car for this season. Not only aerodynamically, but also mechanically E20 is highly functional package.

Räikkönen and Grosjean have one after each other praised the good feeling the car has given from the beginning.

Grosjean took the new car immediately to third position on the grid, and Räikkönen proved it's competitive strength by raising from 17th in the grid to 7th at the finish.

- When tyres of other cars started to slip at the end, our just improved all the time. If there had been more laps, I would have been able to improve the place even more than I had time to do at the final lap, Räikkönen calculates.

Lotus ready to prize fight

Perman assured the team have enjoyed co-operation with Räikkönen when the Finn immediately took over the situation in his first visit to the factory at the end of November.

- I don't see that Kimi was anyway rusty after his break from F1, but if so, the last of it was shaken off in Australia. After the break, it's always good to get one race done. Kimi can continue to be better prepared for Malaysia, Permane said.

What can we wait from Lotus at the weekend then?

- That we get both of our drivers clearly to top ten in qualifying and then to fight for podium finishes. Our cars will certainly work very well in Sepang. Both of drivers are similarly fast and belongs to the top, Permane acknowledged.

Räikkönen was annoyed when changing the helmet together with driving little wide caused the setback of losing the possibility for pursuing the podium finish in the opening race.

- The result would certainly have been better than seventh place, if the qualification had been normal. We had no problems with speed, and it should have been easy to go up to Q3.

Räikkönen has won in Malaysia in McLaren (2003) and in Ferrari (2008). In addition, during his 2007 championship season, he became third.

- Australia is not among the best from the point of view of racing. I hope the car works just as well as in Malaysia, because there we can drive more real track race. At least so far, it seems to be going well in every way, Räikkönen considered.

Turun Sanomat, Kuala Lumpur

HEIKKI KULTA
Courtesy: reppo

Kimi losing 1-0

The inner hierarchy in Lotus team is up side down

In Melbourne Romain Grosjean made a qualification of his life time, driving to P3 on the grid. Kimi Räikkönen blundered himself out in the first qualification section.

The situation is thus 1-0 to Swiss-French driver.

- I knew that he is a fast guy. If he is here faster than I am, then he'll be. Of course, I'm trying to win. In the last race we didn't even give ourselves the opportunity to win him, Räikkönen said in the paddock.

- Of course in qualification I will try to win all, but it does not mean as much as the race. Only that matters.

In championship points Räikkönen leads Grosjean 6-0.

- The feeling of driving is very much the same as last time when I drove F1. Downforce is the same, or perhaps it is a bit more now. Car handling is the same, the Finn granted to compare.

Janne Palomäki
Sepang

Source: Iltalehti
Courtesy: reppo

The lost trophy bugged Räikkönen

Small things decide in Formula 1. It's difficult to give form to something like how changing a helmet before the crucial quali-stint could cost you the chance to even drive for a podium position in a race.

This however happened to Kimi Räikkönen.

7th position and 6 WC-points offered after Saturday's disappointment a quite reasonable start to the new season.

– A result like this doesn't change the fact that we had a good car and we would have had chances for a much better result.

– It's good that we scored points, but mostly I'm bugged when knowing for how good positions we could have raced for with this car. When looking from the situation we put ourselves into with stupid mistakes in quali, then the result is okay, but it isn't any comforting story, Räikkönen summed up.

Eric Boullier had to balance a weekend where on Saturday Romain Grosjean got a brilliant 3rd position in qualification and then in the race Räikkönen worked up from 17th to 7th in the race.

Räikkönen who wanted a different visor changed helmet at the end of Q1, which took those few seconds he would have needed to get one extra lap after the car went wide in the 12th corner.

Grosjean again fell asleep in the start and hence Pastor Maldonado crashed into his car on the second lap.

Räikkönen stretched to a fairly good race performance and did what he could from his bad starting positions.

– It's easy to sum up this weekend. Both our cars could have had a good qualification, we have the speed and it doesn't vanish in the race. We only have to screen out mistakes. Malaysia looks very promising from our viewpoint, Boullier noted.

Then what about Räikkönen's performance?

– Kimi had his old speed already this weekend. After this it's only a question of small details so he gets everything to fall in place. The qualification-process in particular is new to him, and Kimi surely needs a bit more time before that also comes naturally, Boullier said.

Räikkönen didn't even try to hide how much the mistakes on Saturday - own driving mistake and failure in estimating the time - still hurts.

– Hopefully we won't make as stupid mistakes anymore. We would have had a car that would have quite easily taken us to Q3. But if you make those mistakes, what can you do, Räikkönen sighed.

Turun Sanomat, Melbourne

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Grosjean Stays Top Thanks To Late Dash

Romain Grosjean left it until the final few minutes on Friday to steal top spot from Jean-Eric Vergne on day two of testing in Barcelona

Toro Rosso rookie Vernge set the fastest time in the morning session and looked set to claim the day two honours after holding off some of the big guns, but Grosjean denied him with a late dash.

Grosjean crossed the line in 1:22.614 three minutes before the chequered flag came out to help Lotus to claim P1 on two consecutive days. After missing three days of testing in Barcelona last week due to a chassis problem, the Frenchman sealed top spot with a 1:23.252 on Thursday.

It was a frustrating afternoon session for Vergne as he spent a lot of time in the garage. His STR7 stopped on track shortly before the lunch break and he only re-emerged in the final hour.

World Champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest with a 1:23.361 while Fernando Alonso was a further 0.472s off his pace in fourth place.

According to BBC Sport, Red Bull tried out a new exhaust on Friday and 'it looks like this one exits the bodywork lower than the previous one while still, of course, remaining within the area of the "box" stipulated by new rules on top of the rear sidepods'.

Alonso and Ferrari, meanwhile, finally did some race simulation late in the afternoon, which will no doubt be a big relief to their fans.

Heikki Kovalainen, who sat out Thursday's session due to illness, put his Caterham in an impressive P5 and he was followed by Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber driver had plenty of free time in the afternoon as his C31 had a hydraulic leak.

Nico Hulkenberg was seventh fastest with a 1:23.893. Force India planned to do race simulation run, but a gearbox problem put paid to those hopes.

Michael Schumacher, who was responsible for two of the eight red flags on Friday, was P7 in his Mercedes W03 with Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was P8.

Times
1. R Grosjean Lotus 1:22.614 123
2. J Vergne Toro Rosso 1:23.126 +0.512 31
3. S Vettel Red Bull 1:23.361 +0.747 85
4. F Alonso Ferrari 1:23.447 +0.833 124
5. H Kovalainen Caterham 1:23.828 +1.214 104
6. K Kobayashi Sauber 1:23.836 +1.222 76
7. N Hulkenberg Force India 1:23.893 +1.279 33
8. M Schumacher Mercedes 1:23.978 +1.364 78
9. L Hamilton McLaren 1:24.111 +1.497 65
10. B Senna Williams 1:24.925 +2.311 48
11. P Maldonado Williams 1:25.801 +3.187 20

Source: Planet-F1

Räikkönen's fairness delighted Grosjean

After two years break from F1 racing Romain Grosjean got a great gift from the first actual test session. The pace was right - and in addition natural relations to his new team mate Kimi Räikkönen came right away

Räikkönen's contract with the Lotus was published on 28 November. Few days later GP2 champion Grosjean was hired to partner Finnish world champion.

At that time, he told L'Equipe newspaper that he knows Kim's image and is nervous, how the man really is.

After Jerez test session Grosjean confessed that his impression of Räikkönen was immediately changed, when they briefly exchanged opinions about the test during the day.

- It was a really pleasant surprise, how Kimi is. I wondered a little what kind of relationship we will have, but even if we are not close, we get along very well and Kimi feels like a nice guy from the beginning. When I ask, he answers. It feels really nice at this point, Grosjean praised.

Raikkonen was driving on Wednesday, but when the floor fell apart on the curb of the track, the Finnish driver walked to the bus, where Grosjean was spending time.

- When Kimi came to the bus, I asked, was there a problem in the car. He replied that yes, and then we talked about the car and his experiences of it, Grosjean explained.

Telemetry in place

On Wednesday evening Grosjean became acquainted with telemetry of Räikkönen, who was already on his way home, to know at what point Kimi brakes and where he accelerates.

- I did not see anything strange, and then when I was driving on Thursday, our telemetry were nearly identical. It is very encouraging when our driving styles seems to be so close to each other.

On Friday, Grosjean focused on longer stints on different rubber compounds.

Raikkonen drove 192 laps in two days, while Grosjean got 212 laps. Be course Raikkonen drove on filming session 22 laps, mileage is pretty much the same. Most laps in Jerez drove Bruno Senna of Williams, who got 249 rounds.

The car is better

- This is definitely better than our last year's car, which I drove in Abu Dhabi's and Brazil's practice session. On the last season team learned how to improve different things. The car is now immediately good to drive. F1 has never been easy to drive, but with this we can play, and it is a major asset, 25-year-old French driver praised.

Biggest challenge at this point, Grosjean says, is to understand how tyres work with the car. Pirelli's characters are still the same as last season, and in certain circuits it means finding some compromises for drivers and engineers.

Grosjean drove in 2009 seven last races with Fernando Alonso. Thus throughout his F1 career, there has always been a world champion as a team mate.

Turun Sanomat, Jerez de la Frontera

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: reppo

Grosjean's speed didn't come as any surprise to Räikkönen

First three days and 214 laps with Lotus new E20 -car are behind and Räikkönen can now concentrate on following Rally Sweden at home in Switzerland - while following Jerez testing times. At least through the internet

Räikkönen who made the pioneering work with the new car got praisal from the engineers for his feedback. The car is developing and Romain Grosjean got immediately into speed to polish the novelty into an even better one.

– I don't know him that well but he has won the GP2-championship and other car-races. You don't win them if you aren't fast, Räikkönen said.

Räikkönen's 942 kilometers experience from Jerez tests will help the people in Enstone to both develop the car and make it more like the driver wants it to be.

The challenge is at least to build a new steering and placing the DRS-button in the place where Räikkönen wants it.

Räikkönen's engineer in Jerez and in Barcelona's first test period is Simon Renney. After that Mark Slade takes his familiar place alongside Räikkönen.

– It goes well with Simon too but I wanted Mark along. He knows me and he knows what I want since we were together for five years in McLaren. On top of that Mark knows this team after working here earlier. It's easier for me to go to a new team when the engineers have experience of the team and know how to work with me and the team, Räikkönen justified.

Gerard Lopez is very satisfied with the new driver duo. He took personally care of hiring Räikkönen.

– We were in contact with Kimi already in 2010. Back then I got the impression that he still had unfinished challenges in rally and he gave the impression that he would like to do both F1 and rally at the same time. Coming back to F1 would mainly had been because of money.

– Now everything was different. I can assure you that Kimi came back because he wanted to race and money was a minor detail, Lopez reveals.

– Even though he was away for two years he was immediately at home in the car and showed right in the first test with the old car that he is physically in a very good shape. I think Kimi makes a lot of hard work which generally doesn't even seem to be understood.

Turun Sanomat's question about how Räikkönen fits in Robert Kubica's place as the team's leading driver got Lopez to smile widely.

– Kimi is definitely the best we could get and I think that he is with certainity one of the world's four fastest drivers, Lopez praised.

Turun Sanomat. Jerez de la Frontera

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Grosjean: Kimi and I share same philosophy

Romain Grosjean admits that he cannot wait to get started on developing Lotus Renault's 2012 challenger - and working with new team-mate Kimi Räikkönen

New Lotus Renault signing Romain Grosjean admits that he cannot wait to get started on the 2012 F1 season after completing his return to a full-time role with the Enstone outfit.

The Frenchman, speaking a little over a week after being confirmed as the team's second signing, revealed that he had alrready upped hi training regimen, but was itching to get out on track and begin developing LRGP's 2012 challenger.

The car itself has not even been given a definitive launch date, but it is indicative of Grosjean's rejuvenated ambition that he is eager to do all he can to ensure that the 2012 season is more of a success than last year, which tailed off badly after a promising start.

"My training has remained very similar, but I must now focus more on strengthening the neck as this is essential for an F1 driver and a difficult area to train," he told the official LRGP website, "The main problem with training in winter is trying not to get too cold outside!"

"[Despite that], I will be training hard until Christmas and then taking a few days holiday to relax on the beach and get some sun before January.

"[However], I'm mostly looking forward to being back at Enstone to meet with the team and prepare for testing in February. I will be looking to give the best I can to help the team develop the car as much as possible before Melbourne.

"Testing is essential in preparing for the season ahead, and I am really looking forward to working with the guys and giving feedback on the car so that we can be ready for Australia. Also, each driver will only get six days of running before the start of the season, so every kilometre in testing will have to be useful. I can't wait to get started!"

Having decided to dispense with the services of both Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna for 2012, Lotus Renault will start the new campaign with a fresh driver line-up, but Grosjean at least enjoys the advantage of having worked with the engineers during his brief stint behind the wheel in Friday morning practice at the season-ending Abu Dhabi and Brazilian GPs.

With new team-mate Kimi Räikkönen coming straight to Enstone from two years in the World Rally Championship, the Frenchman knows that his existing relationship with the team could be important.

"I came to Enstone last week and it was great to visit the factory as an F1 race driver," he conceded, "The good thing for me is that I have already worked with the team at the end of last season, [but] I met with the guys last week, and also had a chance to go into the wind tunnel and see next year's car.

"It is always something special for a driver to see the car being developed and to meet the people working so hard to give us a good car for next year."

Grosjean revealed that he has also had the chance to get to know his ne team-mate, and says he is looking forward to working with the 2007 world champion.

"I met him last week and he is a nice guy," he said of Raikkonen, " I think we have more or less the same philosophy, we both want to give our best for the team to get good results next year. I am looking forward to working with him."

The rumour mill continues to suggest that Senna could return to the team in a reserve driver capacity, with increased involvement in Friday morning practice sessions at grands prix, but Jerome d'Ambrosio is also being suggested as a potential third driver, thanks to his Gravity Sports Management links with LRGP team boss Eric Boullier.

Source: Crash.net

Räikkönen and Grosjean both have the same break from F1-races

GP2-champion Romain Grosjean drives as remigrant Kimi Räikkönen's team mate in Lotus next year.

25-year old Grosjean is born Swiss but he also has a French passport. He races with France Union's license.

The French will become Räikkönen's 9th team mate. Both drove in F1 in 2009 the last time and Abu Dhabi was for both of them the last race, where Räikkönen was 12th with Ferrari and Grosjean 18th with Renault.

During the years I have often asked for Räikkönen's opinion about his team mate. The answer is always the same:

– It doesn't matter to me who is driving the second car in the team. Ever since a little boy in karting I have concentrated on my own stuff. In the final game this is an individual sport, Räikkönen says.

Räikkönen is starting to get familiar with his new team at Enstone-factory. Grosjean already is at home in the team after being a top name on owner Gerard Lopez Gravity-program.

Grosjean conquered superiorly the GP2-championship with DAMS-team last season. The youngster got to get a feeling of the R31-car after driving two Friday practice sessions in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

Total continued their contract

Oil giant Total sponsors Grosjean. Total announced that they will continue the contract with Lotus-Renault season 2012 at the same time they announced their driver.

– Total is happy when they can offer a young, talented French driver an opportunity to fulfill his dream and drive F1-races with Lotus-Renault. Our main goal is to support new talents and encourage them forward in their career. We have had close relationships with Grosjean for six years, Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier from the management said.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole