Romain Grosjean won't hold back in final Lotus outing

"I’ll be fighting all the way," he said. "There’s no point holding back in the race or over the weekend.

"It’s the last time the E23s will be used in race action so I’ll be looking to give my car a good send off. The engine will be turned up to eleven.

"I’ll be racing my heart out and I know all the guys and girls at Enstone want to see a great end to the season," he added. "We're all focused on a strong weekend to end the season.

"It will be quite poignant to be having my last meetings, meals, track walk and other things with the team," he admitted of the prospect of leaving the team after an association going all the way back to his Formula One début in the 2009 European Grand Prix at Valencia when the team still carried the Renault name - as it may do again very soon.

"I’ve shared so many good and also so many character-building times through my years at Enstone so we’ll have some good laughs," he said. "But the priority over the race weekend is to score as many points as possible."

Grosjean finished outside the points at Abu Dhabi last year, and he would like to set that to rights before moving on.

"Certainly I’ll be looking to qualify well and work my way forwards in Abu Dhabi," he said. "Part of the reason I was able to make a great start and work through the order in the Brazilian Grand Prix was because of my mistakes in qualifying the day before."

"[Abu Dhabi] is a very special Grand Prix given that it starts in the day and finishes under lights, which makes it incredible for the fans as they can see through our visors and watch how hard we are concentrating."

The adjusted time table in Abu Dhabi certainly seems to suit Grosjean: "I can get up a bit later on race day!" he laughed.