Romain Grosjean was presented to a very select group of F1 journalists in Paris this afternoon, less than 24 hours after hearing he would be back on F1 in 2012. The decision was taken by the board of directors of the team on Wednesday evening.
Team boss Eric Boullier said that the team has yet to decide on a third driver but said he would prefer a driver with “recent experience” and suggested that it could be one of the team’s 2011 drivers, or perhaps one of those managed by Gravity. He also said that the contract with Vitaly Petrov had been “terminated”, so it will not be the Russian.
Bruno Senna is obviously one possibility, but the job may also go to Jerome d’Ambrosio, who was left without a drive despite do a good job for Marussia Virgin Racing this year.
I would love to see D’Ambrosio get some sort of drive. He’s done well to keep up with Glock, who I think is a massively underrated driver, and he seems like a really nice guy as well. Equally though, it’d obviously be great to keep Senna in F1.
won’t be senna will it, they’d said earlier this morning that ‘we wish vitaly and bruno all the best in the future’ ie thanks but you can now kindly do one. Same for bruno, really thought he’d be a strong driver this year if he had some stability ie a years contract.
A bit off topic, Joe, but I just read this article about Santander, one of Ferrari’s major sponsors:
http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/08/9307345-huge-eurobank-rated-britains-worst-now-accused-of-gouging-us-consumers
Holy Toledo! Not a good rep to bring to Ferrari.
What about Kubica? Will he ever return to F1?
Adam,
No-one knows.
Unlikely I suppose, but couldn’t Heidfeld get the spot?
CJ
Impossible
Plus d’ambrosio is a gravity driver so it makes sense to keep one of their own in the loop
Just out of curiosity Joe, were you one of the “very select group of F1 journalists”???
Enquiring minds want to know.
jim
Yes.
Romain and Kimi ? Boh! now Eric will be happy!
Naty,
He was happy enough when I saw him this afternoon. That is good.
Maria de Villota?
It seems Petrovs money wasnt tempting enough then, I wonder how much more the total deal via Roman was worth to the team, if I was Bruno Senna at this point in time i would be looking towards Force India or the TD seat at Mclaren sine PDR has left.
One way for Petrov then. HRT. Quite sad….
I wonder how the potential loss of Vitaly Petrov from F1 will affect the attendence and public interest in next season first Russian GP? I bet the little man won’t be amused.
Joe, how much has the rant on Russian TV actually hurt Petrov’s prospects? Both sides initially brushed it off as no big deal, but as we have seen in the US with Kurt Busch and others in NASCAR, embarrassing teams and sponsors publicly is a very unprofessional and foolish thing to do in this era of sponsor-driven funding.
I’m hoping that Jerome does get somewhere for 2012 – ideally a seat but at least a reserve drive would keep him in the same arena. If Jerome would he be able to specify a number of Friday drives in his contract. Must admit that with Senna, Petrov and the like Jerome does seem to have been forgotten. Fingers crossed!
Van der Garde has 15 million sponsorship. I would think he is an option for teams that need money.
Nice to see Romain back, I think he’ll impress if the car is up to it.
So Russian money will only take you so far. Is it fair to say that Lotus has decided that a better driver is worth more than a wealthy sponsor?
Pity for Senna, he did IMHO not screw up when he took over from Heidfeld, but that is not enough. Good to have a Frenchman back in the field, although I do not see a new Prost in Grosjean. Will there ever be one?
Joe, is there a sort of French Vettel in the making?
Schumi will be pleased now that Petrov is no longer at Renault, when the two qualified close to each other the chances of troubles raised sharply. Raikkonen will, very hopefully, show Schumi that comebacks can be spot right from the start and take the fight to him from the very first Q1, Q2, Q3 and sprint to the first corner.
Good for you Joe to be part of that very select group, I suppose that that group are actually the serious F1 journalists around these days, i.e. those that really travel to races and get info first-handed.
Joe actually lives in Paris, so it isn’t a surprise that he should be there.
Personally I’m disappointed that Senna should be dropped. I thought he put up a good showing in the nine races he had.
As for a new Frenchman, look out for Jean-Eric Vergne, who should be in F1 next year wherever Red Bull can place him. Most people who have worked with and know both say he’s better than Ricciardo.
zenmeister,
The “select group” reference was a joke. The conference was called at about 10 o’clock in the morning, for three in the afternoon on the same day. Thus the only people who could really get there in time were Paris, or near Paris-based journalists. Of which there are not many these days. There were less than 10 and only one English-speaker. Another of the 10 was Grosjean’s girlfriend…
My comment wasn’t intended as a criticism; I was simply adding information.
From what you say, it makes one wonder how many journalists were expected to be there. I’m glad you could respond at such short notice.
Incidentally, I’ve since learnt that Grosjean’s girlfriend works for TF1, so she does perhaps count as media…
… which is why I included her in the story as being media.
Joe,
In regard to the intentional? odd man out. Has Kubica always been a difficult driver to get news on? From a fan perspective it seems he has always had limited interest/exposure regarding PR duties or perhaps there is just limited interest in him. At this time it is obvious he unfortunately has to factor a contract extension with an under performing team into his return as if the accident was not bad enough!! A healthy Kubica would realistically have been pushing hard for a seat in a top 4 team right now due to his age and stage in his career. What is the “buzz” in the paddock on this guy? How was he viewed talent wise by the insiders, what previous drivers would you compare him to in terms of talent and demeanour. Can you indicate what paddock folks are speculating currently regarding his future, any insight would be appreciated
I think Grosjean does deserve another chance in F1, with a full winter of testing and preparation. I hope Senna finds a place somewhere, though…..
Regarding Kubica and his accident etc, I can’t think of many drivers that have returned from a big shunt and been quite the same…
Massa (obviously)
Panis (to some extent)
Ralf Schumacher (definitely lost an edge after his Indi bashup)
Far more obviously when you back-track, like Piquet
Perversely, Hakkinen got faster after his shunt in ’95. Oh and then there’s that guy that won a few more championships after bashing up his leg in ’99…Oh and also that Austrian who always wears his bloomin Parmalat logos…
Ok maybe there are a few…hold in there Robert!!!
Funny story, a friend of a friend worked for Northamptonshire NHS trust back in 1999 and had to process the paperwork of a gentleman with a broken leg and of no fixed (UK) abode….
I want Sutil to get that last seat, personally I don’t think Grosjean should be back in F1 this year but alas, we will see if that pays off.
Here’s to hoping!
I love how you are the only one that reports that Petrov’s contract has been terminated-others (I beg for your forgiveness) make no mention or just speculate…
I’m so glad I found your blog.
P.s. Were you in India, too?
Chris Yu
For the GP yes, for the prizegiving no.
Joe – any idea on why (eg performance clause, or non-payment of sponsor money, etc) Petrov’s contract was terminated?
No idea.