Lotus driver Romain Grosjean says he is looking forward to a straightforward run when the Enstone-based team competes in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Last time out, Grosjean and teammate Pastor Maldonado both failed to finish for in the opener at Melbourne due to problems with the engine units.

“As a team, the target is to move forwards and improve,” said Grosjean.

“The race in Melbourne was basically a good, long test. It wasn’t easy for the guys but I’m happy we did a lots of laps in the race.

“We gathered some useful data and we will now improve.

“The aim now is to have a straightforward weekend at Sepang, working through our proper schedule in free practice, then carrying the benefits from that over to qualifying and the race.

“Whenever we solve a problem we make a big step forward, whether it is with set-up, the engine or any other developments.

“We’ve seen this happen with other teams too.

“We are feeling greedy. We want to keep making big progress like in Australia, not just one or two tenths, but big chunks of time.

“We’ll prioritise and work as hard as we can.

“The mechanics definitely deserved a rest after Aust-ralia.

“They worked long hours and still did some of the fastest pit stops in the race.

“The guys were excellent and with a work ethic like that there is no reason why we won’t get on top of this car.”

Maldonado said: “Hopefully this event will go more smoothly for us compared with Australia.

“Naturally, our immediate priority is to finish the races.

“The season has not started the way we want, but I know everyone is working tremendously hard to ensure we get the team back to the top end of the grid.”