Grosjean: The unluckiest driver in F1

Imagine you've just made a breakthrough. After years of promise tempered by your own errors and mental frailties, it clicks and you start fulfilling your potential. Then, suddenly, having reached your peak, the rug is yanked from under you.

That's exactly what has happened to Romain Grosjean over the past 18 months. After the nadir of last year's Monaco Grand Prix, where he was stunningly fast but repeatedly hit things, Grosjean's performances improved to the point where he was the star of the second half of the season.

His reward was to be lumbered with an uncompetitive car this season.

It's a new test for him and one that he's dealing with well. There have only been two points finishes, for eighth places in Spain and Monaco, and precious few occasions when the weekend has run smoothly for his Lotus team.

The standard cliche to invoke at moments like this is 'character building'. Given that much of the past five years falls into that category for Grosjean, it can't be easy for him to take. The danger was surely more of being demolished than built up.

"It's a new part of your character you need beat," says Grosjean of dealing with a season in which he could realistically have expected to win his first grand prix turning into such a long, hard slog.

"Everything was going well and of course you think 'yeah, I could possibly do it' and then you get to the first race and realise it's not going to happen. It's frustrating.

Grosjean was invariably fighting for podiums last year © XPB

"But you could either say 'I'll let it go and do what I can but no more' or you can push hard and stay united with the team.

"It's not always easy because with emotions, you say words that are maybe a bit strong and it's not exactly what you would like to say!

"But in general, we've been strong together trying to understand what is the problem and how we can do better."

The problem is twofold for Lotus. Firstly, it has the Renault engine, which immediately puts it on the back foot. Even at times when the car has not suffered failures, there have often been glitches, the need for regular system resets and minor problems to be managed.

This is a big disadvantage, but it would be grossly simplistic to lay all of the responsibility for Lotus underachieving at the feet of its engine supplier. After all, Red Bull has won two races with the Renault engine and holds second in the constructors' championship, so even though it is the biggest weakness it's not the only one.

The second factor is the state of the team. While things are far more stable financially this season than they were last year, Lotus has downsized. It has also lost a lot of good people. While Ferrari recruits James Allison and Dirk de Beer are the highest profile departures, there are plenty of ex-Enstone personnel scattered around other teams this year, including a number at Mercedes.

The quality is still there, but even a team as effective and robust as Lotus requires time to adjust to such upheaval. Missing the first test has had a compound negative effect, with problems that should have been sorted then being encountered later and delaying progress at a time when other teams were making big improvements.

The twin-tusk Lotus E22 is not an easy or consistent car to drive and there have been times, particularly in recent weekends, when watching Grosjean trackside suggests a driver trying to push the car harder than it can take. But when allowed to by the machinery, his class still shines through.

"I believe I'm driving as well as last year, or better because I've got more experience," he says.

"It's clear that, in qualifying, I don't get the same feeling with my car. Last year, it was very consistent and you could go for it under braking and make the corner. But now, you are not going to get all your corners perfect on a qualifying lap as you could probably do in the past, that's the difference.

"It's much harder to have a car that is not capable of fighting at the front. In one that is capable of fighting at the front, 99 per cent is enough to do very well. But in the seventh-best one, even 120 per cent is probably not good enough to be in Q3."

Grosjean managed to get ahead of some of the usual frontrunners at Barcelona © LAT

Considering the Lotus has been, over the balance of the season, the eighth-best car, it's clear how up against it Grosjean really is.

When the car was bang in the window, in Spain, he was able to qualify fifth on merit and then finish eighth despite engine trouble.

It's a sign that when the opportunity is there, he is still able to take it.

But with question marks remaining over his future, there's little doubt that 2015 is going to be a vital season for Grosjean. He has proved himself capable of running with the best, his performances in the United States and Japanese GPs late last season show that beyond any doubt. He turns 29 next April, so needs to be in a car for what should be his peak years.

But with rising stars like Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas rightly earning the plaudits for their performances, there's a risk that Grosjean might get forgotten, which would be a tragedy because drivers of his supreme pace are a very rare commodity.

"As a human being, yes, that is a concern," he admits. "It's very nice to see Ricciardo and Bottas doing very well, I just wish I was on the podium, that everyone was speaking about me and I was getting a 10 in AUTOSPORT's driver ratings!

"I'm capable of winning, I don't think I lost anything over the winter, [the ability] wasn't thrown out with the Christmas tree. But, of course, it's much harder to show your potential now. You can beat your team-mate, which is good, but when I go into qualifying I want to beat everyone and get pole."

Grosjean's record compared to Pastor Maldonado, a seriously quick driver, has been good. He's outqualified him 10 times in 11 races and on the three occasions when both cars have made the finishes he has been ahead twice.

While Maldonado has a bad reputation, he is capable of a great turn of speed and when things are going well, he can string together strong performances. So Grosjean's doing well by the one obvious metric.

Grosjean's future is still up in the air © LAT

And all Grosjean can do is keep doing it and ensure that he does not let frustration get on top of him. He has proved to everyone, himself included, that he is capable of delivering at the highest level, so all he needs to ensure he does not become overly-aggressive or let the mistakes creep back in.

He certainly seems more at ease with himself, and some suggest his marriage and becoming a father have contributed to him becoming a more mature character.

Whatever the reasons, he is that rare commodity in F1: a genuine topliner, that should be harnessed by a top team.

"It's not an easy situation," he says. "It's not easy to go through it and stay calm, not bringing any [results] home. But, on the other hand, experience has helped.

"I was speaking with my wife [Marion Jolles] about the future and I asked her if she remembered 2010. She was a journalist, I was surfing and going to see my family in Switzerland when F1 was over for me. Now I am back again.

"I enjoy driving the car, even though we're not in the fight for the front. I have done a lot of work with my psychologist to get on top of this situation. You know that you have to let it go, forget about it and not get concerned.

"So this experience has helped me to take things in the right way even though it's a hard feeling not to be able to fight at the front."

Essentially, what he's saying is hang on in there. Grosjean has always been too good not to succeed in grand prix racing and, provided he gets back into a top car, his time will come.

Whether that is in a Lotus-Mercedes, or elsewhere, remains to be seen.