NOVEMBER 19, 2014

Lotus confirms Grosjean for 2015

Romain Grosjean will stay at Lotus in 2015, the Enstone team announced on Wednesday.

Romain Grosjean will stay at Lotus in 2015, the Enstone team announced on Wednesday.

Recently, the Frenchman had hinted he could move to a bigger team after revealing he has a performance-related exit clause in his contract.

"It's no secret that we've had a really tough season this year," said Grosjean, "but the team has remained focused and we're all determined to return to regular points scoring in 2015."

Lotus, switching from underpowered Renault to field-leading Mercedes engines for 2015, had already announced that Pastor Maldonado is staying in 2015.

Romain Grosjean said, "It's fantastic for me to be continuing with Lotus F1 Team for 2015 and it's superb to have the support of everyone at Enstone. It's no secret that we've had a really tough season this year, but the team has remained focused and we're all determined to return to regular points-scoring in 2015. I have been spending a lot of time recently at Enstone and I'm feeling very positive about the potential of the E23, which should represent a return to form for the team. We have one race left in 2014 so I'll be pushing to do the best job possible in Abu Dhabi before my focus switches fully to 2015."

Gerard Lopez, Team Principal, said, "It is with great pleasure that we can formally confirm that Romain Grosjean will continue with Lotus F1 Team alongside Pastor Maldonado next season. You really learn something about a driver when they have the chips against them and Romain has delivered impeccably in 2014 despite the very big challenges he has faced. We know that Romain will always get the most out of the car at his disposal, which is why we can't wait to harness his potential with Mercedes-Benz power in 2015."

(GMM)