Adapted from GMM
Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna are both introduced as 'third' driver for the 2011 season despite the Proton-linked Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy being recently signed as the Lotus-sponsored team's reserve driver.
24-year-old Grosjean made his F1 race debut with the same team in 2009 after Nelson Piquet was dropped, but he was not retained for last year. He will also return full-time to GP2 in 2011.
"2011 will be my comeback year with a third driver spot at Lotus Renault and a whole season in GP2 and GP2 Asia with the DAMS team," announced the Swiss-born Frenchman.
"To be third pilot... allows me to gain a huge amount of experience, to be in the paddock, to see people, and to understand what I was lacking in my first formula one experience. Now my idea is to be a race driver in 2012," added Romain Grosjean to the French broadcaster TF1's Auto Moto.
The report said Grosjean will race this season if regulars Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov are unable.
Regarding his abortive initial career in F1, Romain Grosjean said: "In motor sport you always need to be in the right place at the right time. When I got to Renault, this was certainly not the case. From a performance side, I was never ashamed of what I was able to do compared to (then teammate) Alonso. It is true that we were far apart on the grid, but when you're 2 or 3 tenths behind him in qualifying and the race, you can't say it was so bad."
Bruno Senna, whose late uncle Ayrton is the subject of a new award-winning documentary, had a difficult debut in 2010 with the struggling HRT team. He has not been retained for 2011, instead resurfacing in the Valencia pitlane on Monday morning as Renault launched its new black and gold R31 car.
"It's a great leap of faith from them to give me this shot, so I'm very happy," 27-year-old Senna, who like Frenchman Romain Grosjean was introduced as a 'third' driver, said whilst wearing his new black overalls.
"If any of the other drivers happen to be poisoned or break a leg or something like that, then they may not know who's to blame but they know who is going to replace him," joked the 27-year-old, according to Reuters.
For now, there are no plans for Senna to drive in the Friday morning sessions this year, but he is hoping the role - to include some straightline testing and attendance at all the grands prix - leads to a race return in 2012.
"It's more important that I am going to be learning with them and potentially getting a chance to be in a great team," he said.
Among Renault's other non-race drivers for 2011 are reserves Fairuz Fauzy, Jan Charouz and Ho-Ping Tung.
Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna are both introduced as 'third' driver for the 2011 season despite the Proton-linked Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy being recently signed as the Lotus-sponsored team's reserve driver.
24-year-old Grosjean made his F1 race debut with the same team in 2009 after Nelson Piquet was dropped, but he was not retained for last year. He will also return full-time to GP2 in 2011.
"2011 will be my comeback year with a third driver spot at Lotus Renault and a whole season in GP2 and GP2 Asia with the DAMS team," announced the Swiss-born Frenchman.
"To be third pilot... allows me to gain a huge amount of experience, to be in the paddock, to see people, and to understand what I was lacking in my first formula one experience. Now my idea is to be a race driver in 2012," added Romain Grosjean to the French broadcaster TF1's Auto Moto.
The report said Grosjean will race this season if regulars Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov are unable.
Regarding his abortive initial career in F1, Romain Grosjean said: "In motor sport you always need to be in the right place at the right time. When I got to Renault, this was certainly not the case. From a performance side, I was never ashamed of what I was able to do compared to (then teammate) Alonso. It is true that we were far apart on the grid, but when you're 2 or 3 tenths behind him in qualifying and the race, you can't say it was so bad."
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| Photo WRi2 |
Bruno Senna, whose late uncle Ayrton is the subject of a new award-winning documentary, had a difficult debut in 2010 with the struggling HRT team. He has not been retained for 2011, instead resurfacing in the Valencia pitlane on Monday morning as Renault launched its new black and gold R31 car.
"It's a great leap of faith from them to give me this shot, so I'm very happy," 27-year-old Senna, who like Frenchman Romain Grosjean was introduced as a 'third' driver, said whilst wearing his new black overalls.
"If any of the other drivers happen to be poisoned or break a leg or something like that, then they may not know who's to blame but they know who is going to replace him," joked the 27-year-old, according to Reuters.
For now, there are no plans for Senna to drive in the Friday morning sessions this year, but he is hoping the role - to include some straightline testing and attendance at all the grands prix - leads to a race return in 2012.
"It's more important that I am going to be learning with them and potentially getting a chance to be in a great team," he said.
Among Renault's other non-race drivers for 2011 are reserves Fairuz Fauzy, Jan Charouz and Ho-Ping Tung.