Romain Grosjean says he intends to “do things 100% until the end” in order to help Lotus keep sixth in the constructors’ championship, especially given the team’s ongoing financial troubles.
Lotus' current turmoil was further highlighted on Wednesday when team personnel were prevented access to their garage by local security at Interlagos. The team enters this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix with a six-point advantage over Toro Rosso, but the Italian outfit has been steadily closing the gap across the past few races.
With F1 prize money being based on teams’ results, the difference between finishing sixth or seventh could well have a ripple effect on Lotus, which is still waiting for Renault to finalise its expected takeover of Enstone.
Asked whether he kept these financial stakes in mind when racing wheel-to-wheel against his rivals, Grosjean, who will join Haas F1 Team in 2016, replied: “No, I’m not aware.
"I think it’s around £4million or something, depending on your understanding. I think you can find it on the internet, there has been a leak one day.
“It’s quite a big chunk of money and of course we’re going to try to stay in front of Toro Rosso for the team even though I’m not here anymore next year. What I want to do is do things 100% until the end and try to give them that sixth position in the championship.
“Force India is out of reach now, but Toro Rosso I’m sure we can keep them behind. If we can make a bigger step here because Abu Dhabi may be tricky for us, then it’s good, it’s a good thing for the team.”
Mercedes-powered Lotus’ little resources mean that upgrades on this year’s E23 have been few and far between. But Grosjean thinks he and his squad still hold a couple of trump cards to fend off Renault-engined Toro Rosso's late charge.
“We’ve got more experience, us on our side of the balance. We’ve got the better power unit. Here [at Interlagos] it’s going to be quite important and even in Abu Dhabi there are long straight lines. And then we just have to try and maximise everything we can. It’s going to be tight.
“In Mexico we were struggling and in the end did not lose much. It was a shame in Austin because we lost a lot of points there. This is a season – ups and downs. It’s up to us to do our best and if we achieve 100% of everything we’re capable of, then we can be proud even if we lose the position.”
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