Grosjean remains in unchanged Lotus squad for 2015

2015 F1 season

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Romain Grosjean will continue to race for Lotus in 2015, meaning the team will have an unchanged driver line-up next year.

Grosjean will remain at the team for the fourth year in a row having joined them in 2012. Pastor Maldonado was confirmed in the team’s other car earlier this season.

Having finished seventh in last year’s championship with six podium finishes, Grosjean has fallen to 14th this year and only finished in the points twice. The team have struggled with their Renault engines but will switch to Mercedes next year.

“It’s no secret that we’ve had a really tough season this year, but the team has remained focused and we’re all determined to return to regular points-scoring in 2015,” said Grosjean.

“I have been spending a lot of time recently at Enstone and I’m feeling very positive about the potential of the E23, which should represent a return to form for the team.”

Team principal and co-chairman Gerard Lopez said: “You really learn something about a driver when they have the chips against them and Romain has delivered impeccably in 2014 despite the very big challenges he has faced.”

Grosjean accidentally revealed the news on Twitter last week before deleting his tweet.

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Image © Lotus/LAT

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Keith Collantine
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22 comments on “Grosjean remains in unchanged Lotus squad for 2015”

  1. Good for him. So this confirms Lotus , Mercedes, Redbull , Sauber, Williams Officially

    1. Hurrah! Another year of Crashonaldo and Romain Crashjean! The Dangerous brothers! :)

  2. I quite like Grojean, this year has been a shocker for him compared to his last 2. I hope for his sake that the Merc engine really makes a difference at Lotus next year, he needs a chance to prove himself again near the top of the field. His podiums from 12′ and 13′ will be a distant memory soon.

    1. @ginja42 The engine should push them forwards, I imagine, into the position currently filled by McLaren this year, i.e. between Williams and Force India. McLaren now have to hope that they go forwards, and not backwards, in 2015…

      1. I think having Petronas-fuelled Mercedes engines will help them even more, as Mercedes and Williams used this season (Williams will use Petrobras next year). I expect Lotus to be regularly battling for points. I wonder who the fall-guy(s) will be. Ferrari?

  3. I am really looking forward to Romain in a better car. He’s showed such promise last year after a rather miserable 2012 season but 2014 was in limbo. I hope to see the Frenchman on the podium next year!

  4. great to see – even though 2014 was awful he had Pastor in check and was delivering a few great performances this year. Making Lotus millions with the points he scored

  5. Good news. He is a great driver in a very poor car. He deserves another chance to show what he can do. Let’s hope Lotus can provide him with a better car next season.

  6. Too good to be left out of the grid, but not favoured by the big teams enough to fill any vacant seats. Career trajectory wise Grosjean and Hulkenberg have a lot in common! I’d be very interested to see either in a front-running car. Both drivers are considered very good, but until they’re in a position to fight for wins there’s always going to be question marks over both drivers.

    1. At least Grosjean has landed on the podium several times.

      1. @optimaximal But he had the car to do so – when has Hulkenberg ever had anything but a midfield car? Yet, he still almost won a race!

  7. Good, he’s a likeable guy, though I think this is his level rather than McLaren for example.

  8. Good decision.

    It is likely that a seat at Mclaren or Ferrari would have come up given the Mexican standoff between Alonso and Ferrari and the resulting repercussions on Button, Magnussen and the Hamilton-Mercedes talks and the 3-car talk. But it is certainly better to take a confirmed Lotus Mercedes seat backed by Venezuelan money

  9. Glad to see Romain has been signed up because I think he more than merits his place on the 2015 grid.

    It was good to see him learn his lesson after the ‘clumsy’ 2012 season he had, not every driver does. Also proven himself to be a capable driver in a frontrunning car with some podiums in 2013.

    And while he hasn’t stood out as much this season, due to having not had the tools at his disposal, he is still beating his team mate in the Championship which should be a good enough reason to see him retained.

    Hopefully the Mercedes engine means next season’s Lotus can be more competitive.

  10. Absolutely the right decision.

  11. petebaldwin (@)
    19th November 2014, 14:30

    Glad to see that Lotus have decided to keep him and that he’s decided to stay at Lotus.

    Lotus continued to give him a chance when the world was mocking him for being useless but he came good. It’s only fair that Romain does the same with Lotus now and gives them a chance to design a good car next year.

    If they have another duff year, I think he’ll be off though.

    1. It’s only fair that Romain does the same with Lotus now and gives them a chance to design a good car next year.

      Grosjean said earlier quite clearly that he’d rather be in a ‘big team’ next year. He’s staying at Lotus because none of the top teams wanted to sign him.

    2. @petebaldwin He probably has until Esteban Ocon is ready for F1 for the ‘talent-seat’.. so 2015 will be a big year, but he should best Maldonado once more.

  12. next year will be a world of difference for lotus with the Mercedes engine – top 4/5 every race because of the power advantage, and maybe higher if the chassis works. its funny to think the team were the brand “Renault” labelled team only so recently, both chassis and engine – and now all that is removed.

  13. Even though the title says “UNCHANGED” I noticed nobody’s talking about Maldanado. I know the only reason he’s still at Lotus is because of the pay driver thing, but he at least deserves some credit… he won a race and shows speed on occasion. Call me an optimist but I still hope he can turn things around like Grosjean did.

  14. I am a big fan of the Lotus F1 team in Enstone, and I absolutely love when a Formula 1 team can design a winning car on a budget. I hope that the switch to Mercedes power units puts Lotus back towards the front of the grid. Romain Grosjean deserves a car worthy of his talents.

  15. Loyalty is an incredibly fickle thing in F1 so it wonderful to see this shown from BOTH sides.

    Back in 2012 when Grosjean was a “first lap nutcase” there were many calls to have him ousted from that seat. Lotus stuck with him and was rewarded with that excellent 2013 campaign.

    Now the team itself has had a dreadful season and clearly pushed Grosjean to maximum frustration. To see that loyalty and dedication returned by #8 is refreshing. Hopefully they will get rewarded with a 2015 resurgence!

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