Romain Grosjean close to an announcement for 2015

Romain Grosjean should soon be able to announce what his future will look like next season, after stating that an agreement was close.

Still under contract with Lotus F1 for next season, the Frenchman nevertheless has a performance-related exit clause allowing him to leave the British team during the off-season after a very poor 2014 year.

If he hasn’t given up on the idea of joining a top team—which he reiterated in Austin during the Thursday press conference—while Spanish newspapers, led by Marca, claimed he was McLaren’s plan B for 2015 in case Fernando Alonso declined the offer, the most likely solution is that he will continue for a third consecutive season at Enstone.

To the journalists present at Interlagos, Grosjean indicated: « [An announcement] should take place soon; this weekend hopefully, we are close. » The Franco-Swiss also explained that the interest of other drivers for the seat at Lotus did not put him under pressure: « It was difficult to get into Formula 1 when there were 22 seats and now that there are 18, it makes things even more difficult. It’s not easy for drivers to come into F1. I am in a good position in the team and things are progressing well. »

Grosjean is part of the list of drivers who, without having been officially confirmed yet, are expected to stay with their current team: Kimi Räikkönen at Ferrari, Sergio Pérez at Force India and, in principle, given recent developments, Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso.