Lotus Renault technical director James Allison has admitted that the Formula 1 team have not been able to provide two equal configuration cars so far this season.

Allison said that because of this Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen has been provided with new upgrades before his French teammate Romain Grosjean.

"[Grosjean's] not had an easy weekend either here [in Malaysia] or [in Australia], because we haven't been able to provide two cars in exactly the same configuration on either occasions," Reuters quotes Allison as saying.

"In Melbourne on Friday he was running a step behind Kimi in terms of his aero package, and then he had the upgrade for Saturday morning but then Saturday was disturbed by the weather. Here, once again, we only have one set of [new] kit and we've chosen to run that with Kimi and Romain is disadvantaged for that.

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Lotus leaves Grosjean a step behind Raikkonen - After Kimi Raikkonen eased to victory in the 2013 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, and set the pace in Malaysia on Friday, the forgotten man of Lotus is Romain Grosjean.

The Frenchman suspected his problems in Melbourne were due simply to going the wrong way on set-up in limited practice running.

But "We're seeing the same phenomenon as in Melbourne and we just don't understand it," Germany's Auto Motor und Sport quoted Grosjean as saying on Friday.

Team technical boss James Allison has one explanation, 2007 world champion Raikkonen was one step ahead with the E21's development in Melbourne.

And the same is true this weekend.

"He's not had an easy weekend either here or there, because we haven't been able to provide two cars in exactly the same configuration on either occasions," said Allison at Sepang.

In Melbourne, Raikkonen had key aerodynamic upgrades that Grosjean did not enjoy, and the Finn is now enjoying the next wave of development from Lotus' Enstone HQ.

"Here, once again, we only have one set of kit and we've chosen to run that with Kimi and Romain is disadvantaged for that," said Allison.

"We will always try to get two sets available but (it's) not always possible. So he's had a difficult set of circumstances and he's also up against a team-mate who is really firing on all cylinders," he added.

Romain Grosjean has dropped a big hint about Lotus' 2013 plans, revealing the new Enstone-built single seater will be launched late this month.

Speaking to the French sports news program Stade 2, the Frenchman also revealed that he and continuing Lotus teammate Kimi Raikkonen will equally share the 12 days of preseason testing in February.

"The next few weeks for me will be intense training, with the presentation of the new car at the end of the month," said Grosjean.

"Then I will have six days of testing in February and then finally the beginning of the season in March," he added.

Grosjean, 26, also spoke about his tumultuous 2012 season, and his acknowledgement that he needs to maintain his new approach to Formula One.

"I do not think winning at all costs is the goal, because the dream is to become World Champion one day.

"Of course it is true that you have to win races to be champion, but I must be careful not to mistake the goal," he added.

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As the off season rolls on, more seats for the 2013 season are being snapped up, leaving just two remaining vacancies. Still to confirm their complete driver line ups are Force India and Caterham. This week has seen Romain Grosjean retain his seat at Lotus for next season. The team did consider other options including Kamui Kobayashi and Heikki Kovalainen, which must have been of concern to the Frenchman especially due to the tumultuous season he has had, but the final decision was to maintain him to drive alongside Kimi Raikkonen for a second consecutive year.

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Romain Grosjean admits he doesn't know why only Kimi Raikkonen has been confirmed as staying with Lotus for 2013.

Raikkonen's contract extension was announced the day after the Indian Grand Prix, but no comment was given on Grosjean's future. When asked if it was because Raikkonen could command enough publicity on his own, Grosjean admitted he was unsure why his own seat has yet to be decided.

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Romain Grosjean is ready to help Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in the Formula 1 World Championship if the situation arises.
The Finn is third in the standings with six races to go, although he is already 45 points behind Fernando Alonso, having been the only driver in the top seven who is yet to win a race.
Grosjean is over 100 points off the championship lead and says it is only logical to do all he can to help Raikkonen.
"Until Spa we had fair racing, but from now on it's logical," said Grosjean.
"Kimi is fighting in front of the championship and I don't have many hopes in terms of position. I could be seventh if I score good points, but Kimi is still at the front.

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Romain Grosjean has vowed to help Kimi Raikkonen as much as possible in the race for the 2012 F1 title.

Raikkonen sits third in the standings with six races left to go and is 45 points behind Fernando Alonso, despite the fact he has yet to win a race since returning to the sport this season.

The Lotus ace has six podium finishes to his name and has built a championship challenge based on his consistent results, and has impressed many with the way in which he has performed after two seasons away in the World Rally Championship.

Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Grosjean said he would now back his team-mate in his bid for the title given that he himself couldn't secure the crown and that he would let the Finn through on track if it was beneficial to his title bid.

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Lotus driver Romain Grosjean has said that he has learned a lot from his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen during his one-race suspension at Monza.

Grosjean was hit by one-race ban after the accident which he caused in the Belgian Grand Prix at turn one of the opening lap. Although, he didn’t take part in the Italian GP, however, he said that he remained with his team and learned a lot of things from them during his stay in the garage.

He said that he had a great support from his team during his suspension and had some tremendous learning experience which can really help in his development as a race driver. Moreover, he said that all his team members are like a family and they get along very well with each other while he said that they were busy in comparing data during the weekend which helped in assessing their performance.

“I think for me, the main thing about Monza was being in garage and feeling support I had from team,” he said. “It was really nice and I think that's something driver needs.”

In addition, he said that he learned some really valuable lessons for his team fellow, Raikkonen who is an experienced driver in the field. Furthermore, he admired the skills of the Finnish driver and said that he is an exemplary racer who has achieved so much in his career in the sport until now.

“I can still learn a lot from Kimi too; he has a huge amount of experience. As team-mate he is both challenging and fantastic; challenging because he is so quick and has abilities I have yet to develop, but fantastic because he is a great example to follow in the way he can switch his mind set so quickly during race weekend to be entirely focused on job,” he added.

Additionally, he said that even though he could not be able to participate in the race, nevertheless, he had some amazing learning experience while sitting in the paddock which will definitely help him in improving his performance in the Singapore GP which is to be held at Marina Bay Street Circuit next weekend.

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Romain Grosjean insists he is not upset about not getting his hands on Lotus' new 'super DRS' system.
Last week at Hockenheim, only Kimi Raikkonen's black and gold E20 was fitted with the top speed-boosting prototype in practice.
And the system will return to Raikkonen's car for more testing this weekend in Hungary.
"We are definitely trying it again here," Frenchman Grosjean said in Hungary when asked about the Mercedes-like system.
"Kimi will have it on his car, not me," he clarified, according to Auto Motor und Sport.
"We have only one version and setting it up is not so easy," said Grosjean.
Grosjean insisted he is not upset that Raikkonen is the only Lotus driver to enjoy the system so far.
"I was the first to get the last update," said the 26-year-old, "and now it's Kimi's turn. This is perfectly normal."
He hopes it will be ready to race soon.
"It would be a big help on tracks with longer straights, like Spa and Monza," said Grosjean.

Frenchman Grosjean, who qualified second, had been challenging eventual race-winner Lewis Hamilton of McLaren for the lead before running into traffic before his final pit-stop.

That meant the 26-year-old emerged from the pits alongside Raikkonen, who had climbed from fifth to third, running into the first turn.

The two Lotus drivers went wheel to wheel before Grosjean was forced wide conceding second position to the Finn, who went on to finish just a second behind Hamilton.

Grosjean, who finished third, said he had no quarrel with Raikkonen’s inside move and suggested he had done the same to hold off Red Bull driver German Sebastian Vettel at the start of the race.

“It was close with Kimi, he did what he had to do,” Grosjean said. “I got marbles on my tyres and struggled to recover, but it is what it is.

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With not an excuse or embellishment in sight, Kimi Raikkonen has issued a typically blunt appraisal of his qualifying record so far in 2012.
Until Saturday's rain-affected session at Silverstone, Raikkonen had only outqualified his teammate Romain Grosjean on a single occasion in 2012.
So when asked by the Finnish broadcaster MTV3 to appraise the reasons for his 6-2 defeat to Grosjean on Saturdays, the 2007 world champion answered: "The explanation is very simple.
"He has been faster than me."
In the races, however, he has outscored Frenchman Grosjean by 20 points.
Still, the qualifying deficit bites.
"Of course I always try to be in front, but it hasn't always gone as I would like," said Raikkonen.


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