Romain Grosjean says he has learned to control the aggression that infamously defined his early days in Formula 1, saying he had the 'wrong objective' at the start of races.

Following his brief flirt with F1 towards the end of the 2009 season, Grosjean returned to the sport with Lotus in 2012, his renewed endeavour earning him a podium after just four races, the first of three he would achieve in that year.

However, the season was also characterised by a number of controversial incidents, specifically on the first lap and most notably in Spa when a pile-up he triggered at La Source landed him a one race ban.

Looking back on those days, Grosjean says a desire to get himself into a race-winning position early on in what was becoming a relatively unpredictable season governed by tyre strategies ultimately skewed his judgements.

"In 2012 I got to Formula One and scored my first podium in Bahrain. Then we went to Barcelona and then Canada I almost won the race, then we went to Valencia and I was supposed to win the race and I had a problem with the alternator. Then it was all about winning the race and you kind of forget the rest. You get to Turn 1 and think 'I need to be there if I want to win the race'. It's just taking the wrong objective."

Nonetheless, Grosjean expands on this by saying his aggressive style - which got him into trouble at the start - was beneficial in his qualifying strength and during key moments in a race.

"I've been learning a lot and if we take 2012 it was always in the same place. It was always at the start and it was a mistake from taking the wrong objective as the start was going on. When you learn that and you understand what you're doing wrong then you can change.

"I think then the aggressiveness I can have driving in qualifying is my strength as well. You can do a good lap and then in the race at some key moments it's important to have it. Of course you need to control it and you need to know that there is 500 people working hard for you to build a car and they don't want you to crash."

Adding that it was never his intention to cause carnage, he insists the split-second nature of the moments create a fine line between hero and zero.

"You don't want to do something crazy and take stupid risks. There is a lot in a very short amount of time when you decide to go for the overtaking manoeuvre there's a lot going on so you have to think 'Is that a good place? How is it going?' And you don't want to crash.

"It's intense inside the car, there's a lot to think about and that's why taking the right or wrong decision is not being stupid or too brave it's just that sometimes you can point to little things to getting it right or wrong."