Belgian Grand Prix: Romain Grosjean calm about Lotus favourite tag

With the Enstone-based team having secured a double podium finish in Hungary, and its car expected to be well-suited to the high-speed Spa circuit, the outfit is being tipped for its first Formula 1 victory of the season.

However, Grosjean says the lessons of this year show that form at each race has been hard to predict - which is why it is not getting ahead of itself just yet.

"It is always difficult," he said, when asked by AUTOSPORT if he agreed with the perception that Lotus is favourite for victory this weekend.

"Going into Monte Carlo people said we wouldn't be good because it's a low-speed track and then the car was very good.

"Here it looks good, and I hope we will do well. But it is not like straight from the beginning we can say that we are going to win or whatever.

"We have to work and do our job on Friday and then see where we are before the qualifying, and what we think we can do."

The Lotus E20 has shown itself to be quite sensitive to temperature this year, and has particularly struggled to switch on its tyres for qualifying in cooler conditions.

Grosjean thinks the team has made good progress in this area, which should boost its chances of taking a much-needed slot near the front with Pirelli bringing its hardest compounds this weekend.

"I think we are much better now than in the past," he said. "We have seen in Silverstone where it was very cold that we were working the hard tyres very well, and the medium should be more or less the same so I am not too worried about that."