Grosjean learning tyre management from Raikkonen

Source: iltasanomat.fi | Translation courtesy of Nicole

Romain Grosjean is still an apprentice beside his team mate Kimi Räikkönen.

Head engineer Alan Permane from Lotus admits that Grosjean is trying to imitate Räikkönen’s driving style in order to tend his tyres even better.

“Both drivers are good in taking care of their tyres and there’s no doubt that Romain has learned from Kimi,” Permane told Autosport.

Grosjean has studied Räikkönen’s driving from the car’s data information.

“Kimi was immediately on top (in tyre-department) and Romain is clever enough to study the data, try to understand it and respond to what engineers are telling him,” Permane continued.

According to Permane the four other top teams have a small advantage compared to Lotus, because they have had the same driver-duo for a longer time.

“There is not one decisive factor in F1. However we race against Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren and they have had the same drivers for a long time already.”

“We have a rookie and a driver who has been away from this sport for two years. It’s difficult to estimate how much that means, however that matter should not be underestimated. When the driver feels good in the team it means a damn lot,” Permane said.