Romain Grosjean says he is eager to get his F1 campaign underway in earnest in Malaysia after a tough start to the new season in Australia.
While team-mate
Kimi Raikkonen secured victory in the first race of the year, Grosjean struggled to tenth place after struggling to get the most from his car on race day.
The Frenchman will be eager to make amends for that when the on-track action gets underway at Sepang and he admitted he was looking at the second race of the year as a fresh start with Melbourne already behind him.
“We know that Albert Park can be a tricky circuit to understand and the weather certainly didn't help us,” he said. “It was very frustrating and I'm disappointed for the team and for myself as I wanted to start the season with a strong result. But I'll sit with the engineers and work out how best to improve for the race ahead, and we'll work hard to achieve the maximum, as always. If the car is capable of being on the podium then I want to be there.
“Of course, you want to be able to use everything you've learnt, but you always approach a race wanting to do your best and you don't let a result which wasn't as good as you wanted get in the way of that. I'm having a very short break between Australia and Malaysia to let me recharge my batteries so that I'll arrive in Sepang fresh and ready to deliver my best on track.
“Clearly Kimi's car worked very well in Australia and the fact that mine felt good at times over the weekend gives us a clear target for where we want to get the setup and a guide of what the car is capable of. I want to be scoring 25 points in a Grand Prix for the team. I'm working closely with my engineers to understand exactly what is required to ensure the E21 is at its best for me. Knowing that we're very close to getting the car where I want it is certainly promising.“
Grosjean added that he was sure that he would be back up to speed in Malaysia regardless of the conditions, with Sepang being a venue that has been affected by heavy rain in recent years.
“Last year it was difficult for sure, but we've made some good improvements in our wet performance which we were able to show in the difficult conditions in Australia,” he said. “This means I'm confident we can put on a good show no matter what the weather.”