Grosjean: Feeling is 'very good'

The Frenchman was fastest for the second day running, with his time of one minute 22.614 seconds set during the closing moments of a session extended by half an hour after early-morning fog had delayed the start.

Earlier, the Lotus had also impressed when Grosjean put it through its paces during a race simulation. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was on a similar run at the same time and the E20 seemed to performed favourably in comparison, particularly in terms of tyre wear.

"The race simulation was very interesting, it's been a long time since I've done that long in a car," said Grosjean, who also raced for the then Renault team in late 2009.

"I think you can play with your driving style to save the tyres and it was good for me to know what makes on the tyre as a result of my driving style and it was pretty consistent, pretty good.

"We are quite happy with that. We're very happy that the car was reliable from the run no problem, so that was good, and it's very encouraging for Melbourne."

Comparison

Grosjean started his race simulation run before Alonso but comparing the times, it seemed the Lotus was able to conserve its tyres better towards the end of a stint.

"It's always difficult to compare cars when you're not in sync," he said. "But I think ours was pretty good and I think the Ferrari seems to struggle a little bit more at the end but nothing is sure.

"Mainly we have to focus on ourselves, do our work, see how we can improve the E20 and in the end try to see where we are in Melbourne."

Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen will now take over the Lotus for the final two days of the test, meaning Grosjean will not drive it again until opening practice at the Australian Grand Prix.

However, the 25-year-old heads Down Under in a positive frame of mind, after two days in which Lotus have impressively overcome the chassis problem that cost them four days' worth of running last week.

"I'm looking forward to Melbourne. I'm looking forward to start the event with the whole team. The atmosphere is really good and I think everybody has the same experience: we want to get the best out the car, we want to work together and that's really great," Grosjean added.

"I think at the moment the feeling is very good."