Q+A with GP2 champion Romain Grosjean

While German Christian Vietoris drove flawlessly to Spa victory in tricky conditions, Romain Grosjean crossed the finish line in third, already securing his first GP2 championship, the 7th in the history of the series. Grosjean said he did not made the mistake of focusing on F1 like in 2009 but instead kept on pushing hard to clinch the GP2 title.

Romain, you’re the 2011 GP2 Series Champion. How does that sound? "Finally! It’s just fantastic. We’ve had a really hard season with such a high level of drivers and teams. I think that professionally and personally, this has been a very important season. The team has been very open minded, and there’s been a good dialogue. The main thing is we managed to get everything right in the last four races. There’s been some luck along the way, but you need that in every championship. I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on the win and I am very pleased. It has been a very special season"

How highly does this title rank in your career? "It was my personal goal was to grab the title. I am proud of what we and my team have accomplished this season. I wanted this title a lot because it was something missing in my career. Now it’s in the pocket, it really is an amazing feeling."

When the season started, everyone saw you as the man to beat, especially after you won the GP2 Asia Series again. Did that create extra pressure? "Honestly, I don’t like it when I’m an outsider. But if you watch the results from last season in GP2, Barwa Addax, ART and iSport were stronger than Dams. But this year with the new car and the new Pirelli tyres, we worked very hard. I have to say that we were completely lost in Abu Dhabi when the GP2 Asia season opened at the beginning of the year. Everyone thought we were hiding our true potential when we were P22 in the last test session before the season started. And then, we realised that we needed to just keep working and start again from the beginning and we took pole position. And then the car started to work again. We were strong contenders, but we were also a team that needed to prove that they were able to get back to the top as they were a few years ago."

2009 and 2010 were very tough years for you. What did it take to get to this point today? "I think my career was smooth until 2009. Everything was perfect. I was always in the right team, at the right place and at the right time. I went to SG Formula and became Formula Renault 2.0 Champion. I went then to ART in Formula 3 and became Champion. Then I stayed with the team in GP2 Asia Series and again, I became Champion. Then the first year of GP2 was really great. I was P4 at the end of the season which was a fantastic result. I went to Formula 1 then and unfortunately it was a case of wrong time, wrong place. But it has been important in my career and has definitely helped me get stronger. I realised after that I had a life outside Formula 1. It has truly helped me enjoy the life in the paddock as well. Everyone can see that I’m smiling more. It’s because I have less pressure. I still work very hard and seriously, but I put less pressure on my shoulders. That’s the way I’m working now. I like to be relaxed. I like to smile a lot before going in the car. I make jokes even on the grid and then I can still manage to focus when it counts."

Talking about this season, when did you feel that you could actually become Champion? "I think Imola was important. We went to a track that nobody knew. We knew that it would give a good indication of what to expect in the GP2 Series later this season. And we were very strong. We took pole and won the first race. And then we went to Turkey, took pole again and won again. From then on, we knew we had a good pace, a good set-up and that we could improve on every race track. Sometimes we did struggle a little because we were missing some speed, but the set-up was still good everywhere. That’s what you have to feel to become champion. At the start of the season, there were some ups and downs: we made a few mistakes which happens in a season. But the last four races were very good and that helped us build a gap in the standings. The summer was long as well because we were 25 points ahead and everyone kept on telling me that I was going to be champion in Spa. I kept on telling them to relax a bit (He laughs). And of course, you saw what happened in qualifying yesterday... It was a tough way to start the weekend. But I got P3 today and it was enough to become Champion with Dams."

Five wins this season so far. Was there one that meant more to you? "I think the one from Silverstone was quite important. Everybody said that I had made a big mistake and that I was crazy in Valencia. I made one, I completely agree. That’s it. I got a ten grid place penalty and I went to Silverstone. It was tough, but during that race I was really patient. I made some nice overtaking manoeuvres at the end of the race especially on Giedo which was important for the title race and then on Dani. It was a strong win. And I think from then on, we were capable to score in both races and I showed that the mistake I made in Valencia did not mean that the 2009 Romain Grosjean was back. It was just some mistake that drivers do sometimes."

Looking ahead, almost every single GP2 Series Champion has gone straight to Formula one. Thoughts? "There is no rule unfortunately! (He laughs). I want to go back to Formula One, of course, but at the moment nothing has been decided. My management, LRGP or the team Dams have been intelligent because they knew that in 2009 after the third race of the season, I was only thinking about F1. This year, I did not want to make the same mistake so I kept my focus on GP2 exclusively. I have been to the F1 paddock as little as possible to focus here. Now that we are champions, I will have a look at what is going on upstairs, but at the moment, my main concern is to find a good contract for 2012 and nothing else. At least we still have a few months to think about it. Hopefully I can get a good seat in good conditions."