Grosjean: It’s always nice to learn a new track

After his United States Grand Prix was effectively over before it had even begun, Romain Grosjean looks to enjoy getting high in Mexico.

How are you looking forward to your trip to Mexico?

It’s a new venue and it’s always nice to learn a new track. I can remember watching the Mexican Grand Prix when I was a kid, particularly with a memory of Senna going upside down at the last corner. It looks like the layout has more low speed corners now, but it still has a very long straight so there’ll be an interesting competition to see who can be the fastest there!

Have you ever been to Mexico City before?

It will be a first for me so I’m excited to be going there. I’m sure we will all get a great response and I’m looking forward to experiencing the culture and especially investigating the food which is what I always do when visiting a new city.

Any special preparations for the high altitude?

The city is very high but for me that’s a good thing as I was born in the mountains! I’m a big fan of skiing and cycling in the mountains too, so I think I’ll be pretty well prepared. I don’t think it’s going to cause the drivers any issues, but I know there are a few areas to give some different calculations to the engineers. It’s going to be different with the brake cooling and things like that, but every track has its characteristics so I’m sure we’ll get on top of it pretty quickly.

How do you reflect on your United States Grand Prix?

Short but not sweet. It was quite some event. I’m glad there was a decent race for all the fans to watch after so much rainfall, and I was pretty pissed off to get hit at the first corner like that as it ruined my race. Damage was done to the rear floor and crucially to the brake ducting. We changed tyres as my tyre was punctured but the brake temperature kept rising. We came in again to change to slicks and also see if there was any debris blocking the ducting, but it was more the case that there was no ducting! It wasn’t safe to continue, which meant I had to retire. I was gutted for myself, the team and all the fans. I think we had potential for a good finish, especially with everything that was going on elsewhere. The best bit of the weekend for me was actually away from the track where I went out on Sunday with all the guys who work on my car. Despite all the rainfall we’d seen in Austin, they were still very thirsty!

The weather forecast for this weekend does show potential for rain; what are you feelings on driving in the rain?

It’s something very different to driving in the dry. In the dry you can be very precise and you have a far better idea of the level of grip. You’re going faster in the dry and you’re pushing the tyres to their limits. In the wet, it’s a different way of driving. The level of grip can vary so much over the course of a lap, let alone over the course of a race. You’re more tentative, feeling your way around and you have to react very quickly as the car can start sliding very easily. You have to be wary of puddles and the risk of aquaplaning. Understeer and oversteer are much more present and evident on every corner when it’s really wet and visibility is a very big concern. A car out front or in clear track has an advantage over something in the pack. It can be a lot of fun but sometimes it can seem pretty crazy too.

You’ve got just three races left with Lotus F1 Team; any special plans?

I’m certainly aiming to finish as strongly as possible with them as they’re a great bunch of people. It would be great to have a strong result in Mexico.