Romain Grosjean will exit the Lotus F1 Team and join newcomer Haas next season, with an announcement from the Frenchman due next week at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Lotus confirmed on the Sunday of the Singapore GP that they would retain Pastor Maldonado, who comes with £20 million in backing from sponsor PDVSA, but failed to mention who his team-mate would be.
It’s now understood that Grosjean won’t be retained, despite a potential takeover by France’s Renault – a deal which has been agreed but not signed off due to ongoing talks with Bernie Ecclestone and CVC over historical payments.
Many expected that Renault would look to retain Grosjean as part of its takeover deal, but Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul recently admitted to Canal+ that the Frenchman isn’t part of their plans.
In fact, it’s believed that another Frenchman, current Ferrari reserve Jean-Eric Vergne, will take up the second seat at Lotus (or Renault as it’s likely to be known).
Grosjean said this weekend that he had made a decision regarding his future, but refused to reveal any further details.
It’s thought that Grosjean will partner Esteban Gutierrez at Haas in 2016.
Ferrari were keen to secure seats for both Gutierrez and Vergne and with the latter speculated to be joining Lotus, Gutierrez is therefore favourite to take up a role at Haas.
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