F1: Lotus E21 Feels Good, Says Grosjean

Formula 1

F1: Lotus E21 Feels Good, Says Grosjean

Romain Grosjean kicked off testing for Lotus in Jerez...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted February 05, 2013 Jerez (ESP)

Romain Grosjean was third fastest overall Tuesday in Spain. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Lotus enjoyed a good start to its 2013 campaign as Romain Grosjean enjoyed a reliable first day with the E21 in Jerez, while also setting the third fastest time overall.

The Frenchman said that the car felt better than last year’s car did at the same time.

“The feeling is good from the E21,” said Grosjean. “It feels very similar to the E20 from behind the wheel, even if it does look different from the outside. Once again, Enstone has produced a car that is quick from the very first lap. We spent a little bit more time than ideal in the garage today, but that’s normal in testing.

“I’m happy we completed 54 laps, and even happier that all of them were quick. We now have a good idea of the new tires, and we’ll have some challenges from them; the grip level is there but performance does fall away with graining.

“That said, Jerez is a very specific track in this regard. The speed came easy today and we didn’t respond to the other cars going faster in the afternoon. We should go even better tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, technical director James Allison was equally encouraged.

“It’s great to see the fruits of our labors take to the track for the first time here in Jerez,” he said. “Everything has looked positive so far. The feedback from Romain has been encouraging, and on the engineering side there have been no particular dramas of note. Overall, it was a promising first day for this car, and we hope to continue in this vein for the next days of testing.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 28th season as a racing journalist in 2012. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.