Formula 1

Who is Romain Grosjean?

2 Mins read

With the news of a breakdown in the Renault camp and the likely exit of Nelson Piquet Jr. very soon, Romain Grosjean is being hotly tipped to take over the Brazilians drive.

When asked about the posibility of taking promotion from Renault test driver to Renault Race driver  he told GP week that he wasn’t turning his attention to an impending F1 Debut saying “I was focusing on the GP2 weekend which was the main point so let’s see what’s going on,”

But he did say that he would love the chance should it arise “If you have the chance you will say yes.”

He added “The car is getting much better and I think there are some more updates coming, so it’s a good time for the team.”

So… who is the man soon to be the newest debutant in F1?

Born in Geneva in 1986, he races under a French racing licence. His early racing career saw him winning all ten rounds of the 2003 Swiss Formula Renault championship before moving to the French Formula Renault Championship for 2004, finishing that season seventh overall with one race win.

2005 saw him crowned champion with ten victories before appearing in the Formula Renault Eurocup, finishing twice on the podium in Valencia.

For 2006 he moved onwards and upwards to the Formula Three Euroseries via the Macau GP (in which he qualified 19th and finished ninth.), he faced a tough year taking only one podium and finishing an overall thirteenth. It wasn’t all bad for 2006 though, a one-off appearence in the British Formula Three Championship in Pau he blitzed the opposition taking pole position, fastest lap and winning both races.

2007 brought more success for Grosjean, beating current Torro Rosso driver Sébastien Buemi in the final round to take the title with one race in hand. Previous winners of the F3 championship include current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Onwards to 2008 and he moved on to the inaugural GP2 Asia Series winning the series with four race victories. Staying with ART Grand Prix, for who he raced in the Asia series, he finished up forth in the series at the end of the season. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to secure a drive for 2009, leading him to being replaced by 2008 Formula Three Euroseries season champion Nicolas Hülkenberg.

2008 was also the year that he was unveiled as the new Renault test driver after Nelson Piquet Jr. Graduated to a full race seat. June 7th saw him drive the 2007 R27 Grand Prix car at the UK round of the Renault World Series.

This year saw him move to 2008 GP2 Champions Campos Grand Prix (now known as Bawra Addix), 2 wins in the first two feature races of the season are his best results of the season so far.

Grosjean is hoping to secure a full time drive with Renault for 2010 commenting “If you can get some races for sure it’s all good experience for the next season which is very good. We’ll see.”

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Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Checkered Flag who grew up visiting race circuits around the UK also a freelance motorsport PR officer. Outside of motorsport a lover of music, photography, NBA and NFL.
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