Currently settled with Haas, and set for a third season with the American outfit, Romain Grosjean has admitted that one day he would love to return to Renault, but only when the French team is capable of mounting a serious challenge for the title.

"Going back to Renault one day would be lovely," he tells the official F1 website, "but it should be the time when we really could be world champions together.

"That would be a superb situation, but right now it is a bit premature," he admits, revealing that he hasn't had any talks with the French team.

Clearly, the title remains the object of his desire.

"I want to be world champion, that is why I am racing," he says. "And that is why I'm getting frustrated. If I cannot fight high enough at the front I get frustrated, because I love winning.

"To think that my last win was in 2011 (the GP2 feature race in Hungary) that is six years ago," he adds. "That really hurts. But since then I've never had the car to win.

"(But) life can be full of surprises," he continues. "Take Valtteri and how his fate changed from the 1st to the 7th of December last year. Things like that do happen.

"Right now I am part of a great project. I am very proud of what we have done together, and we want to become better, of course."

Asked if he is surprised that he and Kevin Magnussen are being retained by Haas for 2018, he laughs: "It was not such a big surprise for me. I've known this since September 2015! So I would call it a normal continuation. And things are great.

"Kevin is a good team mate and he is doing a great job," he adds. "We are getting on very well. We are pushing each other and I would say that it is key to every team to have two drivers who are pushing each other, because if you have a driver who is down a bit on performance then the other also relaxes a bit.

"We don't have number one or number two," he reveals, "both are equal in choices and options, and to be fair, there is no politics in the team. But that was also the case in 2016. Same material, same chances."

Ahead of the summer break, Haas has scored 29 points, with team owner Gene Haas targeting a similar amount in the second half of the season.

"That is a great mentality. And it is feasible," says the Frenchman. "We are stronger than last year. Our development is already focusing on 2018, but as the changes are not massive we can push this car harder now. We can set up the car a bit better and we are making the right choices strategy-wise, so the odds are pretty high that we could even score more points than 29.

Asked why he has only given one (Austria) really strong performance this year, he is in no doubt as to the reason.

"One word: tyres!" he responds. "We still don't understand them fully. Sometimes we get them in the window, sometimes not. Sometimes things work, and you don't know why, and the same goes vice versa. The window where they operate well for us is still tiny."

Asked what is meant when engineers who have worked with him claim that he is a driver who can ‘do magic' under certain circumstances, he replies: "I think they are correct and I have done it a few times!

"When I am fighting at the front I can find something extra in myself. I can turn everything into the perfect conditions: braking, turning, accelerating and so on. Because I love winning, and hate losing so much.

"So when I am in a situation where winning is possible I get an extra super boost."