D’Ambrosio will be an active third driver
The new reserve driver for the Lotus F1 Team is expected to have the opportunity to take the wheel of the E20 during some Friday morning practice sessions.
Thanked by Virgin Racing at the end of the 2011 season, Jérôme D’Ambrosio will be the third driver for the Lotus F1 Team in 2012. While the role of reserve driver is often limited to observation and simulator testing, this should not be the case for the Belgian, who will be an active third driver.
D’Ambrosio will accompany the team on all its trips, which includes the Grand Prix as well as private tests that will start on Tuesday in Jerez de la Frontera. Although the young man from the Brussels region will not have the opportunity to drive the future E20, which will be presented tonight at 5 p.m. on the team’s website during these tests, he is expected to have the opportunity to take part in some Friday morning sessions once the season starts.
« I hope between eight and ten times. With, of course, the certainty of driving on the Friday of the Belgian GP, at home in Francorchamps, » declares Eric Boullier to our colleagues at the Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure. At Force India, the Frenchman Jules Bianchi is expected to be under the same system. During certain Grand Prix, like Monaco, the entire driving time should, however, be entirely devoted to the main drivers.
This should allow D’Ambrosio to find the time less long before possibly securing a full-time driving position in 2013. Lotus is the choice of the future. Of course, I am a bit frustrated not to be on the starting grid for the 2012 season with my teammates, but the goal is to progress, to take a step back to leap forward. The objective is to do my job well and to secure a full-time position in 2013, explains the Belgian to DH.
