Lynn: Second GP2 campaign will be different after 'ruthless' winter

Lynn graduated to GP2 as GP3 champion last year. Though he took two wins and two poles on his way to sixth in the championship, he admits other results were lost to being "slightly over-confident" in his approach after strong pre-season testing form.

"For right or for wrong, every race was sort of just go out and try and win it from anywhere on the grid, which I don't think was the best mentality myself or the team could've taken," he told Autosport.

"Maybe I needed last year because, after my carefully produced GP3 season, I quite enjoyed going out there and just trying to race really hard.

"Sometimes it came off really well, sometimes it bit me in the arse.

"I don't think there are many things that are the same as last year, either for myself or the team.

"We've been working ruthlessly.

"I've really made a big effort myself as a driver and a person to be much fitter, much more mentally strong, much calmer when I need to be and much more of a rounded racing driver, just smoothen out my rough edges."

Lynn cited pre-season testing - where he and DAMS were a low-key presence on the timesheet - as evidence of a more productive approach.

"For the last few years it was very rare to not see a DAMS car at the top, sometimes almost every day," he said.

"I really wanted to change that mentality in myself as well.

"Sometimes it's better to keep your powder dry, learn what you need to learn, and then when the time is right then you show your hand.

"We've really worked on what we needed to work on, to roughen out our weaknesses - which was always really our tyre degradation last year.

"I don't want to speak too soon, but I really think we've made big strides forward.

"The proof will be in the pudding on Saturday afternoon in Barcelona won't it?

"We tried to do everything extremely scientifically and methodically, and from everything we've seen it should be a big improvement.

"I say 'should' because I don't want to say it's definitely better until we've actually delivered better results because of it, but I do feel much more confident now that we're going to be as quick in a race as we are in qualifying."

Lynn will make his first F1 track appearance of the 2016 season following this weekend's GP2 season-opener at Barcelona, when he drives in the post-grand prix test at the circuit for Williams.