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Lotus Renault F1 team have appointed reigning GP2 World Champion Davide Valsecchi as their reserve driver for the upcoming 2013 Formula 1 season. It has also been revealed that last year’s reserve driver, Jerome D’Ambrosio, will continue in the same role with the team. D’Ambrosio drove instead of the banned Romain Grosjean in last year’s Italian Grand Prix. The role of the reserve drivers is to be present with the team in all races and step in to the car in case the regular drivers become unavailable during race weekends.
Davide Valsecchi, 26, hails from Italy and has been involved in the young driver’s test in Abu Dhabi for the last 3 seasons. In 2010, he tested for the now defunct HRT. He served as the test driver for the Caterham (then Lotus) team in 2011. He drove during a Friday practice session instead of Heikki Kovaleinen at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. By virtue of winning the 2012 GP2 championship, he has been called up by one of the biggies – Lotus-Renault, to serve as their reserve driver.
“I’m really happy that the team want me to be with them and I’m excited about the future,” said Valsecchi. He continued, “I hope that this is a really good start to a career in F1. My last year in GP2 in 2012 was something I really focused on and in the end I succeeded. Now, in Formula 1, my target will be a little different but my focus to do the very best job is still the same.”
Lotus’ last year reserve driver D’Ambrosio is still in the scheme of things of the team. He will continue in his role.
“I learned from last year that you need to be ready in order to step straight into a race seat, so my aim will be to keep focused and be prepared,” said d’Ambrosio.
“Of course my ultimate aim is always to gain a race seat, however I know that by doing the best job I can here – and proving myself valuable to the team – I’m in a very good position should an opportunity arise”, he concluded.
