Iorama blog

France's Grosjean hired by Lotus as back-up driver

PARIS (AFP) – French pilot Romain Grosjean was on Sunday given a second opportunity to make a name for himself in Formula One when Lotus Renault signed him as their reserve driver for next season.

The 24-year-old, who failed to register a point in his seven previous Grand Prix when he teamed-up with Spain's two-time world champion Fernando Alonso at Renault in 2009, said he was delighted to be given another chance.

"2011 will be my comeback year with a third driver spot at Lotus Renault and a whole season in GP2 and GP2 Asia with the Dams team," said Grosjean.

"To be third pilot... allows me to gain a huge amount of experience, to be in the paddock, to see people, and to understand what I was lacking in my first Formula One experience.

"Now my idea is to be a race driver in 2012," he told automoto.fr.

Grosjean will understudy for race drivers, Polish star Robert Kubica, who finished eighth overall last year, and Vitaly Petrov of Russia, who had a promising first season finishing 13th.