Lotus F1 Team
Romain Grosjean says that Lotus faces a 'strange situation' after a 'disastrous' winter for the Enstone based team.
Lotus has lost key staff members over the past 12 months and struggled in pre-season testing after the E22 encountered several issues.
"Yes, it's been a disaster winter for us. Renault has got their issues, we have got ours but on the other hand we have learnt a few things from the little running we did and all those things if we can get right for here that's already a step forward," he said ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.
"Renault I'm sure has upgraded the software and things will get better as well. On paper the car is good so, yes, there are a lot of things we want to learn but I won't jump out of the car tomorrow and say 'that is it, that is bad, that is beep, beep, beep' or whatsoever.
"Sometimes you can be a bit emotional when it doesn't go as you want but so far it's winter testing and not even the first race."
Grosjean conceded that it is the step into the unknown that leaves Lotus in a strange situation.
"It's not frustration it's just a little bit of a strange situation because you don't know what the car is," he added.
"You don't know a lot of things - race simulation, set-up, starts, safety car, qualifying mode, overtaking or defending. It just adds a little bit of pressure that you have to learn all that on a race weekend which is not ideal, but it is what it is right now.
"There's nothing we can do expect take things as they come day-by-day and tick the boxes as much as we can."
