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2012 Season Drivers 2012 Formula One season:
Kimi Räikkönen (17 October 1979)
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Räikkönen entered
Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001.
In 2002 he switched to McLaren Mercedes and became a title
contender by finishing runner-up in the 2003 (Schumacher)
and 2005 (Alonso) championships. Räikkönen's 2003 and 2005
seasons were plagued by severe unreliability from his
McLaren cars. Räikkönen switched to Ferrari in 2007 where he
secured his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship,
beating McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso
by one point. And he was one of the very few drivers to win
in their first season at Ferrari. He left Ferrari to drive a
Citroën C4 WRC for the Citroën Junior Team in the World
Rally Championship for 2010. He did also try NASCAR and made
his debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World
Truck Series.
Räikkönen has signed a 2 year deal with Lotus for the 2012
Formula One season. |
Romain Grosjean (17 April 1986)
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Grosjean has been
succesfull in Formula Three and in the GP2 series.
Grosjean was Renault's test driver for 2008, replacing
Nelson Piquet, Jr., who graduated to a race seat. He
continued to be a testdriver at Renault for 2009, but took
over Piquet's seat from the European Grand Prix onwards.
At the start of 2011, Grosjean returned to the newly branded
Lotus Renault GP team as one of five test drivers. In late
October 2011, Lotus Renault announced that Grosjean would
drive in the Friday practice session in the Abu Dhabi Grand
Prix (replacing Senna) and the Brazilian Grand Prix (replacing
Petrov).
On 9 December 2011, it was announced he would make his
comeback to Formula 1 as one of the drivers in 2012. |
In December 2010 Group Lotus plc and Genii Capital announced a
partnership that would see the Renault F1 Team renamed as ‘Lotus Renault
GP’ from the start of the 2011 racing season onwards.
Drivers 2011 Formula One season:
Nick Lars Heidfeld (10 May 1977)
After Robert Kubica was badly injured during a rally accident, Nick
Heidfeld became his replacement.
With 172 starts to his name, and 11 seasons of Formula 1 competition,
Nick Heidfeld joins Lotus Renault GP as one of the most experienced
drivers on the grid. He got his F1 break in 2000 when he raced for Prost
Grand Prix, before switching to Sauber the following year, where he
remained for the next three seasons. A year with Jordan followed in
2004, before he moved to Williams in 2005, scoring his first pole
position and three podiums during the year. For 2006, Nick returned to
Sauber, which had been acquired by BMW, where he raced alongside Robert
Kubica for four seasons, scoring a further eight podium finishes. In
2010, he moved to Mercedes as third driver, before joining Pirelli to
help with tyre development. At the close of the season, he replaced
Pedro de la Rosa at Sauber for the final five races.
Robert Kubica (7 December 1984)
Having made his debut with BMW in 2006, the Pole has established himself
as a consistent front-runner and has proved his ability as a
race-winning driver and championship contender. Having raced
competitively in karts since the age of ten, he moved to single-seaters
in 2001, initially competing in Formula Renault and then in Formula 3.
By 2005 he was racing in the World Series by Renault and after winning
the championship he secured a test session with the Renault F1 Team.
This was to prove a springboard to Formula One as he joined BMW-Sauber
as third driver in 2006 before graduating to a race seat later that year.
After four years with Sauber, he joined the Renault F1 Team for 2010 and
finished eighth in the drivers’ championship with three podiums. For
2011, he leads the Lotus Renault GP line-up determined to continue
fighting at the front of the grid.
Vitaly Petrov (8 September 1984)
This Russian driver got his F1 break with the Renault F1 Team off the
back of a successful GP2 career, having raced in both the GP2 Series and
GP2 Asia Series. He enjoyed his most successful campaign in 2009,
finishing as the GP2 Series runner-up with two victories. Prior to that
he raced in European Formula Renault, as well as various national
championships in Russia. As the only Russian ever to race in Formula 1,
he carries the expectations of a nation and for 2011 has set his sights
firmly on realising the potential he showed during 2010.
Bruno Senna (15 October 1983)
One of the team’s third drivers for 2011. Although a latecomer to
motorsport, Bruno’s rise through the ranks has been remarkable.
He started his career in British F3 in 2005 before moving to the GP2
Series in 2007 where he immediately showed his raw speed and talent. By
2008 he was fighting for the GP2 Series title, narrowly missing out on
winning the championship in the final race, finishing as series
runner-up. A move to sports cars in 2009 and a shot at the Le Mans 24
hours proved a stepping stone to Formula 1 as Bruno made his debut at
the start of 2010 with Hispania Racing.
Romain Grosjean (17 April 1986)
One of the team’s third drivers for 2011. He brings with him an enviable
CV, which includes title-winning success in the F3 Euroseries and the
GP2 Asia Series. Having been a key part of Renault’s young driver
programme, he graduated to the Renault F1 Team in 2008 as a test driver
before stepping up to a race seat for the second half of 2009. Last year
saw the 24-year-old Frenchman race in various categories, including the
FIA GT1 Championship and the Auto GP series with DAMS where he was
crowned champion. With a wealth of experience to draw upon, he remains
one of the most promising French motor sport talents and will balance
his F1 duties with another season in the GP2 Series.
Reserve drivers for the 2011 season are Fairuz Fauzy, Ho-Pin Tung and
Jan Charouz. Tung and Charouz have been reserve drivers for the Renault
Team last season..
For the 2011 car, please . |
