Romain Grosjean claims GP2 crown
GP2
Romain Grosjean, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011
Romain Grosjean has won the 2011 GP2 championship in today’s race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Grosjean, who is one of Renault’s third drivers, claimed the title by finishing in third place in the feature race. He has won the championship with three races still to run.
Grosjean started seventh in today’s feature race before working his way up to third early on.
But a lengthy interruption due to a crash involving Stefano Coletti and Mikhail Aleshin left just one lap to go when the race was restarted. Grosjean finished third behind winner Christian Vietoris and Jules Bianchi.
His title rivals Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde failed to finish.
Grosjean is the seventh GP2 champion and the first driver to win the title for DAMS.
He has been tipped to drive for Renault in some practice sessions before the end of the year. He previously drove for the team at the end of 2009.
2011 Belgian Grand Prix
- Rate the race result: 2011 Belgian Grand Prix
- In the Paddock Club and in the stands at Spa
- Leimer’s crash and in the pits at McLaren – fans’ videos from Spa
- 2011 Belgian Grand Prix: complete race review
- Vote for your Belgian GP driver of the weekend
- Red Bull: Newey relieved after “scariest race ever”
- McLaren: Button hit by debris in first-lap scare
- Ferrari: Harder tyres still the car’s weakness
- Mercedes: Schumacher climbs 19 places to fifth
- Renault: Petrov buoyed by R31 upgrades
Image © Drew Gibson/GP2 Media Service
Valentino said on 27th August 2011, 16:25
He is flying! Back to F1! ;)
bosyber (@bosyber) said on 27th August 2011, 16:51
Maybe not after Senna’s successful qualifying of today?
TFLB said on 27th August 2011, 17:17
In place of Barrichello maybe?
Fixy (@fixy) said on 27th August 2011, 18:17
Rumours suggest van der Garde is in contact with Williams for a 2012 drive.
Klon (@klon) said on 28th August 2011, 0:36
The same rumours who talked about him going with Williams in 2011? Not giving very much credit to those. Barrichello ain’t going nowhere, deal with it.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 28th August 2011, 4:15
Doesn’t mean he can’t replace Pastor Maladjusto …
Fixy (@fixy) said on 27th August 2011, 18:21
I agree. Two races are too little to judge a driver, and even if Senna DNFs here and at Monza, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not good enough. Senna should keep the seat for the rest of the season as a Heidfeld return seems unlikely, if he loses his charge, and Grosjean could drive in FP to prepare himself for 2012. Why put Senna in for two races to have him substituted by Grosjean? At that point Heidfeld could’ve done these two races and Grosjean could’ve taken a seat directly from Heidfeld.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 27th August 2011, 21:53
Could have a nice little battle on our hands. Still hoping Kubica comes back though.
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 28th August 2011, 6:50
I really think they will give Kubica every opportunity to come back.
Maybe we should have an article all about the Renault driver situation Keith. It seems they have too many drivers, all who could do a decent job in the car and they are playing musical chairs with them!
I really liked how Eric Boullier handled the team when he came in after crash-gate, but he sure seems to have a rather self inflicted debacle on his hands now.
Who to go with? Senna, Grosjean? Hold out hope for Kubica? Could Heidfeld return?
The only driver with a secure seat in their organization seems to be Petrov.
Sandlefish (@sandlefish) said on 27th August 2011, 16:26
Really pleased for Grosjean! I still believe he was cast into a difficult car at a difficult time in F1, and has proven himself deserving of another shot more representative of his ability.
Oscar Becker (@super_swede_96) said on 27th August 2011, 16:30
Does anyone know if something has hppened to Coletti?
Fixy (@fixy) said on 27th August 2011, 18:39
Strangely, the commentators were calm. True, the crash didn’t look too nasty for him to suffer serious consequences, but the time the ambulance took to load him made me think if all was right with him, as he said on the radio he had problems breathing.
Regarding his health, I found this:
Alfie said on 27th August 2011, 16:40
Sam Bird is sexy :D
sw6569 (@sw6569) said on 27th August 2011, 16:42
Congratulations Romain. See you in F1 next year!
DaveW said on 27th August 2011, 16:43
And loses renault seat to senna.
Rob2 said on 27th August 2011, 18:28
It all depends how deep Senna’s pockets are.
GeeMac (@geemac) said on 28th August 2011, 6:04
With so many drivers paying for their seats these days that is a little hard on Senna. Even MSC had to pay for his Jordan opportunity, bringing sponsorship to a team has been part of F1 for so long as there has been sponsorship.
mikeycool said on 27th August 2011, 16:49
Is there any coverage of the GP2 race anywhere?
Alfie said on 27th August 2011, 16:57
Eurosport is your best bet in the UK.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 27th August 2011, 21:56
Eurosport 2 tomorrow morning.
Their coverage this year left plenty to be desired, the tennis was deemed more important for even delayed action.
james_mc said on 27th August 2011, 16:50
Brilliant news! Hopefully Fat John can get a decent drive next season! :)
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 28th August 2011, 4:51
Fat John?
No, it’s RRRMMMMNNNN GRRRJJJHNNNNN! You can actually pronounce his name without any vowels.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65) said on 27th August 2011, 16:53
Timo Glock-esque. F1, then Gp2 title, then F1 again! :)
Hope he doesn’t end up at Virgin, tho!
Dutch_Alex said on 27th August 2011, 20:38
Or even worse, end up like Giorgio Pantano. F1, Gp2 title, obscurity.
Alfie said on 27th August 2011, 16:58
Hang on, started seventh? Interesting..Bruno is seventh..
box this lap said on 27th August 2011, 17:04
Cake!
Izzy said on 27th August 2011, 17:17
Well done Romain, he fully deserves it! Brilliant driver! But whether he gets into F1 or not is another matter. I hope he doesn’t become the next Pantano.
Fixy (@fixy) said on 27th August 2011, 18:31
Pantano won in GP2 at his fourth season there, 2008, after competing in F1 in 2004.
Grosjean didn’t do worse than Petrov did last year in 2009, so he should get an F1 drive and not disappoint.
f199player (@f199player) said on 27th August 2011, 17:29
Well done Romain
but I have to admit most of that race was a farce
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1) said on 27th August 2011, 17:53
Maybe a future line up of Senna and Grojean is on the cards?
I must say it was great to see Senna do such a good job today!
Simon said on 27th August 2011, 22:33
Could be an exciting lineup – anyone got any idea if Grosjean brings any sponsorship as that seems to play a big factor in current Renault driver decisions?
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 28th August 2011, 6:56
I don’t know about sponsorship, but Boullier seems very keen on bringing in a French driver and Grosjean is the only realistic bet on doing that anytime soon.
They are close and even though Renault is French in engine and name only, they seem keen on having a French presence in the team.
It begs the question, why bring in Senna? Maybe they are hedging their bets- if Kubica cannot return I can see them running a Petrov, Grosjean team with Senna as the main reserve driver.
Tom said on 27th August 2011, 18:03
Finally, eh? Only took four years. Sorry, but GP2 is full of mediocre “hotshots” this year. My grandmother could have been GP2 champion this year.
f1alex (@f1alex) said on 27th August 2011, 18:33
I would love to see you in a race against those drivers. I’d bet my house you wouldn’t be saying that afterwards.
Tom said on 27th August 2011, 20:26
Possibly, but that doesn’t change my opinion that four years in GP2 is too much. There needs to be a limit on how long a driver can compete in GP2, otherwise it’s just a case of a driver waiting till he or she is a racing against a field of rookies to take the title, which was the case for Maldonado and now Grosjean.
Two years and then they should have to try their luck elsewhere.
f1alex (@f1alex) said on 27th August 2011, 21:39
Fair enough I guess, but it wouldn’t really be fair for them to put a limit on how long they can stay in the series either.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 27th August 2011, 21:59
What about the teams? Surely they’re accountable for something? The drivers have to start somewhere just as they do with F1.
Fixy (@fixy) said on 27th August 2011, 18:45
In 2008 he did well for a rookie, with some race wins.
In 2009 he was doing well, but was drafted into F1 mid-way through, losing the chance of that year’s title.
In 2010 he had lost his Renault contract, and considered quitting motorsports, but later in the year he signed with them again and did some races at the end of the GP2 season with Renault’s sister team, DAMS.
In 2011 he had a full-time contract with them and won greatly.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 28th August 2011, 5:01
Blame Formula 1. When Virgin, Hispania and Fernandes all entered in 2010, it created six new seats in Formula 1. Hulkenberg, Petrov, Kobayashi, Chandhok and di Grassi all got promoted. So there was a massive vaccuum at the front of the GP2 field. And after 2010, Maldonado, d’Ambrosio and Perez stepped up to Formula 1, further thinning out the talent pool. So it was always going to take a while to replenish what had been lost. Now that the 2012 driver market is fairly stable, I expect GP2 will start building up the talent pool again. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bottas, Calado and Melker all get drivers in GP2 based on their results, and maybe Haryanto, Pal Kiss and Evans based on their money and connections.
But I think the pointy end of the GP2 grid will be pretty good next year – assuming they don’t get into Formula 1, I can see van der Garde, Bianchi, Pic, Bird and probably Vietoris (he was sidelined in the early season with a back injury). And maybe Filippi, Valsecchi and Gutierrez. They’re going to have to be, because there’s going to be a number of Formula 1 seats opening up in the near future as drivers retire – Webber, Button, Massa, Schumacher, Barrichello and Trulli. They won’t all go together, but it’s going to be a hard-fought battle for those seats.
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 28th August 2011, 7:01
Can I adopt your grandmother? That must be one cool granny.