GROSJEAN

The Lotus F1 Team announced last week that they have retained the services of Romain Grosjean to partner Kimi Raikkonen for the 2013 Formula One season.

Grosjean joined the Lotus Team in 2012 after winning the GP2 Series in 2011. This year, Grosjean scored three podium positions with third place in Bahrain, second in Canada and another third place in Hungary. He finished 8th in the 2012 Driver’s Championships.

“It’s fantastic for me to be continuing with Lotus F1 Team for 2013. It’s superb to have the support of everyone at Enstone. I’m really looking forward to rewarding their faith when we take to the track in Australia,” Grosjean said.

Commenting on his one-race ban for causing a major accident at the Belgian GP last September, Grosjean said, “I learned a lot in my first full season in Formula One and my aim is to put these lessons into practice with stronger and more consistent performance on track next year.”

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier said, “Romain is a great talent and we are pleased that he is continuing with us for a second season. With the continuity of two exceptional drivers like Romain and Kimi we are well placed to build on our strong 2012 with even better results in the year ahead.”

“Both drivers worked very well together in their first year as team mates, and I think there is the potential of even better things from the season ahead. We were regular visitors to podiums in 2012 and we certainly intend to continue with this trend in 2013,” Boullier added.