Romain Grosjean says driver coach not needed, despite Jackie Stewart's advice

Three-time Formula 1 world champion Stewart told AUTOSPORT earlier this week that he felt Grosjean should consider using a driver coach and invited him to lunch in order to discuss some of the incidents Grosjean has been involved in this season, including a spin in qualifying at Silverstone.

But Grosjean feels this is unnecessary. The reigning GP2 champion has shown strong pace this season in comparison to Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and has already recorded two podium finishes.

"You can always learn and I used to work with a coach, but I don't feel that I need one today, but it can change week to week. At the moment we are pretty happy with the way everything is going," said Grosjean.

"I spun in qualifying in Silverstone and that was my fault but I don't think we have been involved in many accidents this year," he added.

The 26 year-old emphasised the importance of data analysis as part of the learning process.

"We have data and computers which is the best coach from the driving point of view. I think other sports people have a coach to say give more lift or more slice but we have the computer and a team-mate so it is a bit different."

Grosjean also believes his driving will naturally become more comfortable as he settles in better at Lotus.

"Some teams like Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren have been working with their drivers for four or five years and they know each other so when they go into the race they know where they want to start," he said.

"When we start the race weekend we start with last year's data but it wasn't you in the car."

The Frenchman believes that he had the pace to win at Silverstone, where he recovered to sixth a first-lap collision with Paul di Resta. A gearbox problem was later found on Grosjean's Lotus and he will take a five-place grid penalty at Hockenheim this weekend.

"In a perfect scenario we could have fought for the win, the car was quick and consistent in the race but then you could say that if you had a gearbox issue two laps earlier then I wouldn't have finished at all," he said.