Lotus driver Romꩲain Grosjean reflects on Valencia and looks ahead to the British Grand Prix...

Q:
Romain, what🙈's the mindset heading to Silverstone?

Romain Grosjean:
I think we head to Silverstone with more confidence. We understand a few more thi♔ngs with the car. It was good to have a really hot weekend all the way through at Valencia as we were able to work on the car and really analyse things. Silverstone is very high speed; I'm confident we'll have strong pace and that should lead to a good race.

Q:
What are your f🎀eelings about the European Grand Priꦕx?

Romain Grosjean:
I was very close to what could have been my first win, and at the location of my F1 debut too! It would have made a nice story, but reality doesn't always follow the script. It was a fantastic race until I had the problem. I was fighting with world champions in Lewis [Hamilton], Sebastian [Vettel] and Fernando [Alonso], and I was right with them on pace. It was unbelievable for me and I'm pleased with the way the team is working. We made a real step forwards in Valencia, understanding some performance considerations which will help us for the rest of the season. I can't wait to put them into practice at Silverstone. Ultimately, we didn't finish, but through no fault of our own. I was as sad as the team. The win was there for the taking, but it just got away. I have to be patient. I didn't achieve my first win in Valencia, but I am convinced that it will 🍸come. It's great to fight with World Champions, proper big teams. We are now a big team.

Q:
What lessons 💧did you learn personally at Valencia?

Romain Grosjean:
It was my first safety car period in F1, so that was goo✃d experience for the future and I'm sure we will be able to use this knowledge next time. My race start was good and I could make use of the momentum I had off the line. A lot of people say I'm too aggressive sometimes; I don't think I have been this year. Sometimes I have made a mistake, and you can point to a lack of experience, but in Valencia I showed that I am able to be aggressive when I need to be, and also to leave some space when I need tꦑo do so. When Fernando overtook me around the outside of turn two I left him space.

Q:
How did the alternator problem manifest itself?

Romain Grosjean:
There was a warning on the steering wheel and I kept asking Ayao [Komatsu] 'What is it? What is it? Can I do anything?' and he told me not to worry about the alar﷽m. Next I lost some information on the dashboard, and it wasn't easy to drive, then I started to feel that there was a problem with the car and something was going wrong. This was about a lap and a half before we stopped, then suddenly everything cut; I coul♊dn't even use the radio! This meant all contact with the engineers was gone. I was stuck on the track and couldn't cross it, so I had to wait for 20 laps under the sun before I could get back.

Q:
How was it at the side of the track being an impꦅromptu spectator?

Romain Grosjean:
It was almost as frustrating as the car cutting out! I couldn't discuss with the engineers what had gone wrong 🙈and I had to watch the rest of the race stranded out on track; at least my chair was comfortable! You just want to return to the pits, talk to the crew and help with the rest of the race.

Q:
It will be your fi🐟rst time in a F1 car on the new Silverston♍e circuit layout...

Romain Grosjean:
I won on it in the GP2 Series last year, so I'm not too bad on the track! It's the same for everybody. It's challenging, but it has a good feel. It's one of the quickest tracks of the year. There are corners which are legendary like the Magotts, Becketts, Chapel complex. What a feeling... It's a special Grand Prix for our team as the factory is very close to the track. It will🦩 💧be nice to see them. They are all doing an amazing job, always working so hard. I will be visiting them after the race and hopefully we can go there with some good silverware to show them.