Lotus: Grosjean Gets Frustrated with Renault Engine in Singapore
It's a Romain Grosjean extremely annoyed by the reliability issues of the Renault engine that finished his Qualifying session, pointing at a modest 16th place, letting his annoyance show over the radio.
Suffering from multiple micro-cuts on the straight, losing precious tenths, Romain Grosjean angrily lashed out at his Renault Sport F1 power unit over the radio while discussing with his race engineer, Ayao Komatsu, at the end of his final lap during the second qualifying session. The FIA broadcast their conversation to the viewers just moments after it was spoken.
Here is the translated version of their exchanges. It’s the driver who initiates the conversation:
« I can’t believe it! Damn engine! Damn engine!
– Entendu, Romain. Désolé à propos de ça. C’est le même problème que celui que nous avions rencontré au cours des FP3.
– Je m’en moque, je m’en moque. C’est trop !
– Oui, bien sûr, bien sûr.
– Sérieusement, je prends tous les risques possibles pour faire une bonne séance de qualif’ et je perds 5 dixièmes dans chaque ligne droite parce que le moteur se coupe. Honnêtement, c’est difficile à encaisser.
– Absolument, je suis tout à fait d’accord avec toi. »
The frustration of the Frenchman is all the greater because a decent performance was possible today on this urban circuit in Singapore, where mechanical grip is more important than top speed, which should suit the Lotus E22 better. However, this situation is not new: Grosjean had already expressed his frustration much earlier in the season, after the private tests in Bahrain that followed the Grand Prix in Sakhir.
For the record, although nothing is official yet, the rumor has been persistent for several months about a probable engine change for the 2015 season at Lotus, with a switch from Renault to Mercedes. As for the driver, his future is not yet confirmed, although there’s a good chance he will continue with the Enstone team next season.
