Formula One News

Formula One News » Grosjean to race for Lotus Renault GP in 2012 Posted on 09/12/2011

Lotus Renault GP has announced that Romain Grosjean will race alongside 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen next season.

The 2011 GP2 Series champion gained useful experience with the team throughout this year as LRGP’s third driver. As part of his role, Grosjean was rewarded with two practice session drives at the final two races of the season in both Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

“I am thrilled to be one of the team’s race drivers in 2012,” said Grosjean. “There’s a big grin on my face at the prospect of getting behind the wheel of next year’s car, and I feel very privileged to be given this opportunity. To be racing alongside a former world champion and someone who is hungry and returning to Formula 1 will be a great experience, and I’m sure will help raise my level of performance too.

“I feel that my successful season in GP2 Series has helped me mature a lot, and I am a much more complete driver than I was last time I was competing in this sport. Returning to Enstone as a race driver feels like coming home.

“I will not disappoint and I wish to thank all the people without whom this return to F1 would not have been possible. Total, which supports me since 2006, and Gravity Sport Management, are first on this list.”

Prior to claiming first prize for the DAMS team in this season’s GP2 Series, Grosjean was a title winner in F3 Euroseries and the GP2 Asia Series before graduating to the Renault F1 Team in 2008 as a test driver. Following this, he stepped up to a race seat for the second half of 2009.

The announcement of Grosjean as race driver signals the beginning of the Frenchman’s second spell at Enstone in such a capacity.

“I’m delighted that Romain Grosjean will side Kimi next year,” added team boss, Eric Boullier. “Romain has shown a lot of maturity in the past twelve months both through his GP2 Series victory and his development as third driver with us. We were impressed when he drove for us in the first practice sessions in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

“We are confident that drafting him in to one of our driver’s seats will help us in our rebuilding process. I would like to thank Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna for their contribution to the team’s performance this year and I wish them all the best for the future.”