Grosjean impressed by new Lotus E23

Romain Grosjean likes the E23 with Mercedes power

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was full of praise for the new Mercedes-powered E23 Hybrid after testing it for the first time at Jerez.

The Frenchman endured a troublesome 2014 as Lotus struggled for reliability and performance with Renault engines and the E22 chassis.

But after completing 53 laps with the team's latest challenger on Wednesday, he was quick to mention wide-ranging improvements.

"The whole package is better," Grosjean explained.

"Engine-wise we know we have the best one on the grid and things are working nicely, and in terms of chassis it's the same story.

"Normally when you are driving the car and it does what you want it shows that you have a good starting point, so you can really build up from there, unlike last year when we were really struggling."

Grosjean said the handling of the car is closer to the team's 2013 machine, in which he claimed six podium finishes, and then team-mate Kimi Raikkonen won a Grand Prix.

"It does feel in characteristic, not performance, a little bit more like a 2013 car than a 2014 car," he added. "That's what we wanted to achieve so the team has done a good job."