F1: Grosjean Buoyed By Mugello Progress

Formula 1

F1: Grosjean Buoyed By Mugello Progress

Romain Grosjean has been strong throughout this week's test runs at Mugello...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted May 03, 2012 Scarperia (ITA)

The Lotus E20 car has been fast all season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Lotus continued to show impressive form as Romain Grosjean topped the times in Mugello for a second successive day.

The French driver said that the team had learned a lot and had not been out to set headline times.

“It was another nice day today, so I have been lucky with the weather here,” said Grosjean. “We continued to work on the car and have gained more valuable data. We made a big change to the car at lunchtime, and everything went according to plan. Mugello puts high demands on the driver, so it’s been a very good experience for me – and quite a workout!

“We were conducting a specific program of evaluating components, so to be quick relative to our opposition even when we were not looking specifically to try to top the times is satisfying. I’m happy at the progress we’ve made here in Italy, and looking forward to seeing how well this translates into lap time when we get to Barcelona."

The team’s trackside operations director, Alan Permane, said it had been a good test for the team, and some new parts had proved their worth.

“After looking at the data from yesterday, we ran further back-to-back tests on our suspension configurations," he said. "Track conditions were better today as a result of yesterday’s running. We stopped early for lunch so that we could change the suspension and be out running straight away in the afternoon session. In the afternoon we also assessed some new floor updates applicable for Barcelona, as well as a rear suspension update fitted late in the day.

“After the rain on the first day, it’s been a valuable two dry days of testing. Mugello is quite hard on the tires; not in terms of degradation, but through the high-speed loadings generating heat. This has taught us some interesting lessons applicable to the rest of the season. Mugello is also an excellent circuit for doing aerodynamic evaluation, so it has been time well spent here.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.