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?

 

[KekeTheKing]

Most of us are probably quite average.

That's why I love and watch F1. The difference between a World Champ and a footnote is relatively small. The difference between a World Champ and your average commuter is incomprehensible. Sadly for Romain, he frequently shows the tendencies of an oblivious roadway pilot. It all evened out for him today as the Button incident was extremely clumsy.

 

[Fenderman]

Yup indeed. He caught my attention when he arrived in GP2 and I rooted for him like crazy because he was one of the few drivers I thought were the real deal. His occasional "apparent brain-fades" didn't seem any different to those of any other young chap in GP2 and I thought he would sort that out with more experience. They key indicator to me is that I don't think I've seen him screw up because of losing his temper or getting spiteful (unlike Maldonado or Montoya to name but two guys who can be nasty on track).

I'm sure he could be a pretty handy contender in other categories but with the limited visibility in an F1 cock-pit I'm convinced he'll only ever be an "also ran". As I've said before somewhere, it's a shame because he's a decent bloke.

 

[Slyboogy]

He's one of those guys that can be brilliant but idiotic on the same day.

However, to his defence, that overtake was absolutely brilliant, and I got tingles when it happened, that's first time in a long time that's happened concerning an overtake. It might have been illegal, but there was not much he could do, even Massa came to his defence.

On Button, the overhead shots show that Button moves over on him at the start, then Grosjean does it to more obvious extent, should he have been penalised? Well nothing happened to other cars, Button was bound to go backwards anyway, if it was someone else rather tan Grosjean, I'm not sure a penalty would have occured.

 

[Fenderman]

Regardless of the reasons for, and contact with, Button he kept his position by completely short cutting the chicane. That requires ceding his position or receiving a drive through. Period. Far more clear cut than the situation with Massa which really didn't justify a penalty, I still maintain the stewards were daft.

I also think that Vettel deserved a word in his shell-like and a slap on the wrist for the way he crowded RoGro at the start of the race. To me that was way too aggressive and clearly intentional - as opposed to RoGro's unintentional bump into Button.

 

[Slyboogy]

I was not defending him in the matter, just acknowledging with a few others here that Button did also bump into Grosjean while there was enough space for both until Grosjean did what he did. A large part of his car was ahead of Button before he did his clumsy error, and add to that drivers have gotten away with this in the past, unless they outbrake themselves.

Why should Vettel deserve a penalty when several others and himself have done this in the past without any penalty being recieved? Both had enough room, didn't touch at all, neither did one have to take avoiding action, and both stayed in the race without any harm done. It was good driving by both in my opinion.

 

[Fenderman]

Please read my posts properly or ignore them completely. If I have not expressed myself clearly then ask me to clarify. Thanks.

 

[aaron8831]

Some may argue the penalty for overtaking outside of the track parameters was harsh but thems the rules, you do it you and get seen doing it then the drive through is what you get.

True those are the rules but as we've seen the rules do not apply to everyone in the same manner. RoGro has a bad reputation to deal with but I thought the Massa penalty was too harsh.

 

[Slyboogy]

Please read my posts properly or ignore them completely. If I have not expressed myself clearly then ask me to clarify. Thanks.

Ooo someone's angry

 

[Fenderman]

Just tired and a bit fed up , is all Slyboogy

 

[Slyboogy]

Now now old man, don't let Romain worry you on the public roads with his driving

 

[RasputinLives]

See I'd given up on RoGro but his last two races have made me think he CAN be a front runner. His mistakes are less frequent than they were and he has the pace. Loved his move on Massa which showed he's a racer too. Plus he was put under so much pressure at the start and held his own.

The Button incident shows he still has issues he needs to continue to deal with.

If you are Team Enstone though who have invested all their money in the car so will prob lose Kimi surely you have to back Grosjean. They know he is as quick as the front runners when he's on form because they've seen it. They just need to focus on solving his issues and they already have a world beater in their team.

Seems a better option than gambling on someone they don't know and spending money they don't have.

 

[Hamberg]

Button's tyres had dropped off significantly at the point Vettel overtook, it was clear to see. Perhaps RoGro thought Button was going to be slower or break way earlier going into that corner than he actually did? Besides which Button pitted so he couldn't give that place back. I think people are being overly harsh because of who it is rather than what it is.

 

[teabagyokel]

Fenderman - I wondered about that move. Grosjean must be confused as to why everyone else is allowed to do whatever the heck they like to him and he's allowed to do nothing.

What Vettel was doing crowding out a man with Grosjean's record on the run down to Turn One; he's a very lucky boy to have escaped with those 15 points intact...

 

[F1ang-o]

It's a boy for Grosjean.
Romain Grosjean officially confirmed the birth of son Sacha...........

 

[Jen]

Thank God he didn't go left at the vital moment!

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Another top performance from RoGro today. He's certainly not harming his chances of a 2014 seat at Lotus.

Probably the best performance out there today for me.

 

[teabagyokel]

Lotus have looked at various points this season that if they could just get in front they'd win so let's hope he can challenge Vettel at the start.

Some of you will say he's not had an off-the-line crash for a while...

 

[KekeTheKing]

Grosjean could actually make a whole lot of friends if he somehow manages to "trip" over Seb at the start tomorrow.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

I'd love for him to take his first win and deliver of the proof Lotus needs. He's outpaced Raikkonen nearly 50% of the time and always either seems to make a mistake or gets unlucky when he's on for a good finish (spun at Austin last year, SC ruined possible win at Nurgburgring this year, harsh penalty at Hungaroring this year).

He seems to have turned a corner now, let's hope he doesn't go back round it.

 

[RasputinLives]

He had a flawless performance at Singapore and was let down by car issues so its good to see him continue to be up there and I hope he gets a nice chunky podium at the very least.

He seems to have stepped up as Kimi has gone on a 'I've got my contract now' mental holiday.