It’s over between LRGP and Heidfeld

Lotus Renault GP and Nick Heidfeld have reached an agreement today and have decided to part ways with immediate effect. This announcement allows both parties to see this matter come to an end, and now enables them to focus on their respective upcoming challenges.

Our disagreement with Nick has been the subject of a lot of media hype lately, and we are pleased to have reached a quick and reasonable agreement. Our separation process has already been painful, and neither of us wanted to resort to legal action. We are very grateful to Nick for the extremely valuable contribution he has made to us. We had good times, especially the podium in Malaysia. He is a very determined driver, and we wish him much success for the future, declares Eric Boullier.

Obviously, I am disappointed to leave the team in the middle of the season. I think I could have always made a significant contribution to the team, but I have to see things as they are and focus on the future. We made the right decision by choosing to end our collaboration today. I would like to wish all my friends I made in Enstone an excellent end to the season. One thing is for sure: I will return to racing at the highest level soon, the German driver said.

The team also announced that Bruno Senna would be the driver alongside Vitaly Petrov for the rest of the 2011 season. Romain Grosjean remains the team’s third driver and there is no indication that he won’t have the opportunity to drive the R31 during a Friday morning practice session, even though the team has not said anything about it.