Grosjean: His Psychologist, Kimi Räikkönen, and His Place in F1

The year 2012 was rather tumultuous for Romain Grosjean. After a few races behind the wheel of a Renault in 2009, the French driver hadn’t managed to convince. Following his GP2 title, he was given a second chance in 2012 with Lotus, but despite some impressive performances, his on-track behavior was often criticized by his rivals. This winter, the driver has tried to address this issue proactively: “I have been working with a psychologist since September, and I hope it will bear fruit. I will try to do my best, and the results on the track will speak for themselves,” he confides to the official site Formula1.com.

The Lotus driver even admits to having been afraid of losing his seat this winter. Indeed, the renewal of his contract was a long-standing question mark: I have to admit that December was tough. But I had a good discussion with the team leaders. I now know what I need to do, and I want to move on from here. I will work hard and be more consistent. Last year, I felt like I had to prove twice as much as anyone else that I deserved my place. But Gérard Lopez made the decision to keep me and not question it. From there, we will focus on this season, and maybe even beyond.

Questioned about his relationship with Kimi Räikkönen, Grosjean admits he is lucky to be around a world champion and have a good working relationship with him: « He doesn’t talk much for sure, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good teammate. We work very well together. He has a lot of experience, and that’s a good thing. Besides that, everything is open in the team. Our driving styles are different, but the feelings and feedback are roughly the same, so the engineers know that if something works for one, the probability that it works for the other is very high. This makes things much easier. »

The first Grand Prix of the season is often likened to a big leap into the unknown. The performances and differences between the cars remain unclear, which is why Romain Grosjean is not setting any specific targets to achieve in Melbourne: « We will have some new aerodynamic parts in Melbourne. It’s an atypical circuit, very different from most of the tracks we visit throughout the year. So I hope we will provide the right answers to these specifics this weekend. I haven’t set myself any specific result goals. Sunday evening, I want to look back and say that I did the best I could. »