FIA F1 - Lotus Retains Grosjean For 2013 Season

Paris, Dec. 28, 2012: Lotus have announced that Romain Grosjean will again partner Kimi Raikkonen next year, giving the team an unchanged driver line-up for the 2013 season.

Grosjean made his return to F1 competition with Lotus in 2012, having won the GP2 Series title in 2011, and scored three podium results - in Bahrain (P3), Canada (P2) and Hungary (P3) - en route to eighth place in the drivers’ championship.

“It’s fantastic for me to be continuing with Lotus F1 Team for 2013,” said Grosjean. “It’s superb to have the support of everyone at Enstone. I’m really looking forward to rewarding their faith when we take to the track in Australia.”

“I learnt a lot in my first full season in Formula One and my aim is to put these lessons into practice with stronger and more consistent performance on track next year," added the Frenchman, who earned a one-race ban for triggering a first-corner pile-up at September's Belgian round.

“There are a lot of exciting developments occurring behind the scenes at Enstone and I am very excited with the prospect of the E21. I’ve already had my seat fitting and spoken with all the personnel involved with the build of the new car; I just can’t wait to get behind the wheel.”

Eric Boullier, Lotus team principal, added: “Romain is a great talent and we are pleased that he is continuing with us for a second season. With the continuity of two exceptional drivers like Romain and Kimi we are well placed to build on our strong 2012 with even better results in the year ahead.

“Both drivers worked very well together in their first year as team mates, and I think there is the potential of even better things from the season ahead. We were regular visitors to podiums in 2012 and we certainly intend to continue with this trend in 2013.”

The Raikkonen-Grosjean partnership took Lotus to fourth place in the 2012 constructors’ championship.