D’Ambrosio is back…sort of

Posted by Mikel on January 25th, 2012 at 11:55am

I wrote an op Ed piece a month or so ago about Virgin Racing’s Jerome D’Ambrosio and how I felt he had a good freshman year in 2011. In my opinion it was good enough to warrant a second season but Marussia Virgin Racing felt differently choosing to release him from their employment. My Op Ed was ill-timed as this occurred mere days after my claiming the Belgian should stay.

The good news is that Jerome has not left F1 completely as the Lotus team has announced his duties at the official third driver for the 2012 season. Jerome will attend all the races and perhaps most importantly keep his foot in the door.

“It’s a great feeling to be joining Lotus F1 Team,” said D’Ambrosio. “It’s an exciting next step in my career. I contested a complete season in F1 as a race driver for a smaller team where I learnt a lot about Formula 1.

“Now, I have the opportunity to work with one of the top teams with great potential for my future development. With my recent race experience, I know I can make a valuable contribution.

“Of course, I would love to be racing, but racing with a top team. Being associated with Lotus F1 Team should be more beneficial and this is the choice I have made. This opportunity is one I couldn’t afford to miss. My desire to get back in a race seat in the future is motivating me to do the best job possible in my new position.”

Anything can happen in F1 and perhaps with this team especially as team boss Eric Boullier has proven he has little patience for drivers he feels are not getting 100% from the car as evidenced in the 2011 sacking of Nick Heidfeld. Should Roman Grosjean or Kimi Raikkonen fail to live up to expectations, perhaps Jerome will get another shot. It sounds like a long shot but then I felt the same about Bruno Senna who say in for Heidfeld.  Boullier said:

“To have a third driver who is highly motivated, fresh and talented and who contested the full 2011 season is highly beneficial for us. In Jerome we have someone we know well who integrates beneficially with the squad.

“He impressed as reserve driver for us in 2010 and at the end of that year he made a strong showing in the young driver test. He also showed strongly in his rookie season as an F1 race driver. I am looking forward to working with Jerome again and think he is a perfect addition to our driving strength.”

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