Grosjean: Still with plenty to prove

The thing that annoys me the most about Romain Grosjean is that he has the speed. It is evident, from his third place in Hungary to his stunning qualifying lap at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix – on his return to the sport.

(c) Octane Photographic

The Frenchman’s season has so far mirrored that of 2012, and of course 12 months ago we witnessed a monumental first lap accident at the Belgian Grand Prix that was caused by him. I’m hopeful that the mirroring will not continue, but with his current inconsistent form it is difficult to predict. 

I’m a big fan of Grosjean and his attitude to the sport: no matter what happens, he always has a smile on his face and looks to the future. That’s a good attitude for him to have because on a number of occasions, he won’t want to look back at the race just gone. 

I’m not saying the “old Grosjean” has returned because he hasn’t. That erratic, unpredictable racer that burst on to the scene in mid-2009 to replace Nelson Piquet Junior at Renault is no more, but in his place is a faster, more determined driver that still displays qualities like the Romain of old. 

He was hailed for big things when he made his F1 debut and he still is now. His road to F1 is different to a number of others, particularly for its ending. 

(c) Octane Photographic

He was a star in karting before moving swiftly in to Formula Renault. He won the 2003 Swiss Formula Renault 1.6 title on his first attempt – he races with a French license but has actually lived all of his life in Switzerland – before making the jump to the French Formula Renault championship, spending two years there and winning the title in 2005. 

This meant that he caught the eye of Renault and was signed up to their driver development programme, a huge help for him as he moved through the ranks. He moved to the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2006 but had a tough year, not showing the speed and consistency expected of him. 

However he made up for that in a one-off appearance in the British Formula 3 series, taking two pole positions, two wins and two fastest laps at the tricky Pau circuit. A switch to a top team for 2007 saw him take the Euroseries title in stunning style before continuing the momentum through to the GP2 Asia series in 2008 – which he also won. 

He finished fourth in his first GP2 series season with two wins and numerous impressive drives. He was promoted to Renault’s test driver for 2008 but was booted out of the ART team for the 2009 GP2 season, moving to Campos Grand Prix (now Barwa Addax) and finishing fourth once again despite missing the last four rounds. 

(c) Octane Photographic

This was because he was promoted to a Formula 1 drive mid-way through the 2009 season, replacing a lacklustre Nelson Piquet Junior. Renault were hoping that the impressive Frenchman could consistently challenge for points, something Piquet could not. His first race was messy after first corner contact on the Valencia street circuit, finishing 15th. 

He then found himself in plenty of fans bad books after taking out eventual 2009 world champion Jenson Button on the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix. He had his best qualifying in Monza but numerous mistakes caused him to drop to 15th by the flag. 

He retired in Singapore and finished 16th in Japan, needless to say Renault were not impressed. He finished 13th in Brazil after his first and only decent race of the season before struggling with the brakes on his Renault R29 and finishing 18th and last in Abu Dhabi. You can tell why Renault dropped him at the end of 2009, he simply didn’t reach expectations and was far too erratic; something he was heavily criticised for. 

He then took 2010 and 2011 out to compete in other series and really scrub up his race craft. He competed in the odd sportscar race and tested for Pirelli but returned to single-seater racing in the firm of the AutoGP series, racing for DAMS. Despite making his debut at the third round, he romped to the series title in impressive style as he looked to get his foot back in the F1 door. 

(c) Octane Photographic

Grosjean had the odd GP2 race during 2010 as well before moving back in to the series full time in 2011 for DAMS. During that time he also regained his position as Renault’s – now known as Lotus – test driver. He won the Asia and main series in impressive style with six wins collectively from the two series. 

He then made his F1 return last season with Lotus, showing flashes of brilliance throughout. He took three podiums over the season but there were three very clear Grosjean’s emerging. 

The first was the incredibly fast Romain that stood on the podium, the erratic driver who made contact with numerous drivers and caused the first corner crash at Spa and finally the inconsistent and tentative driver that was trying to stay out of trouble. 

This created a rather rollercoaster season for the Frenchman with inconsistency plaguing his year. It was frustrating for me to see as on occasions he could out-qualify, out-race and match his world champion team-mate but it didn’t happen often enough and we saw too many flashes of the old Grosjean. 

Moving in to this season, he had plenty to prove after being retained by Lotus. However his season has continued from where 2012 left off, flashes of brilliance tainted by a handful of errors. None have been as severe as what we saw last year but the fact of the matter is that with question marks being raised over his future at the team, he still has a lot to prove. 

Having the Lotus Team Principal Eric Boullier as his manager will be a big help, the fellow Frenchman helped him make his F1 debut and instigated his return in 2012. However with the Enstone based squad looking to challenge for the constructors title alongside the drivers’ championship, should they be looking elsewhere? 

(c) Octane Photographic

I think the main area that Grosjean needs to improve is in his consistency. There is no denying his raw speed but four non-scores and a number of underwhelming performances in 10 rounds is not what was expected of him. Raikkonen has stepped up his game and has consistently out-qualified and out-raced him, unlike last season. 

We need to see the Grosjean that we see when he is standing on the podium: on edge, very fast but controlled and mature in his driving style. We don’t see that often enough which is harming his cause. 

He still only has 36 starts under his belt, but there is plenty more to come from Grosjean if he polishes up his act. He has the attitude, speed and is in the right team to challenge at the front. Wins are obviously on the cards for him in the future but he needs to score more consistent results in order to maintain his position at a top team. 

He has a lot to prove.