Romain Grosjean

Was drafted into F1 with not an ounce of testing and replaced Nelson Piquet Jr in the middle of 2009 when he was possibly on route to becoming the GP2 Champion that season, which went to Nico Hulkenburg.

In his 7 races in F1 he failed to impress and the no in-season testing rule didn't help his course. Plus having Fernando Alonso as his teammate couldn't have helped either.

In 2010 Grosjean went to do Auto GP, before returning back to GP2 on July 20th for a few guess appearances for DAM'S. But in 2011 Grosjean was given a full-time drive by DAM'S for the 2011 GP2 series and went on to become the 2011 GP2 Champion.

My question is will Grosjean get a drive for 2012? Plus how far can this guy go if he gets into F1?
 
RoGro seems as mystified as us at his lack of pace today so has decided to do what all great drivers do and blame the car.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106130

Boullier offers up the more logical solution that a bad start meant he was never in any clear air. As he's never been this far off Kimi's pace before maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt just this once but needs to put in a good show next weekend to stop tongues wagging.
 
I wonder if RoGro was trying too hard today to bring the car home. Certainly he needs to have a string of races where he finishes with no incidents but pace like today does not help his case, then again, it's just one race in a long season.
 
It makes sense really, it's far less likely that upgrades on Raikkonen's car well end up broken in a tyre wall suspiciously close to the opening turn on a circuit...
 
Not really a surprise. I think Kimi winning the first race really changed their plan even if they say otherwise. When you're a team with more limited funding than RBR or Ferrari you have to put all of your focus into one car if there's a chance at staying in contention. It's not like RoGro has really given them much reason to do otherwise either.
 
Beat Kimi at the weekend. Keeping his head down with a couple of points finishers. Prob what he needs at mo but will need to show more speed as season goes on.
 
I've lost faith but still have hope. He has had a lot of chances and this is almost certainly his last. He is a driver that I would like to see succeed. I've always been a sucker for the nice-guys.
 
The rain has hampered him at both races so far (compromised setup at Australia and out of position in Malaysia) and yet he's scored points in both. In Malaysia it was almost a role reversal, Kimi was getting hot under the collar and had several off track moments whilst Grosjean quietly went about his business and picked up a good result.

So far so good.
 
He probably is on his last chance and whether thats succesful or not I think he deserves a bit of recognition for being someone who can adapt and address his issues.

The first time he came into F1 he was criticised for not being quick enough and not having enough experience so he went away, won GP2 and won a place back in F1. Last year he was recognised as quick but reckless and criticised for not picking up consistant points finishes. This season (and I realise two results do not a season make) he appears to have addressed those issues and has had quiet races picking up results.

If this continues then that will be twice he's recognised a problem and then adjusted himself to try and tackle the issue which you'd have to give him respect for as their are numerous drivers who continue to make the same errors over and over again. This of course doesn't make him a succesful racing driver but it is a good skill to have on his quest to be one.
 
Gonna post this now so I don't forget. RoGro just went wheel to wheel for most of the first lap and behaved himself impeccably. Pat on the head, good boy, now get on with the race!
 
He does seem to have grown up doesn't he. What's that old adage about being able to make a fast driver safe but not a safe driver fast?
 


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