Needless to say, without a single lap of testing prior to his F1 start, Grosjean failed miserably with the French manufacturer, also given the fact that the R29 was a bad car to begin with. With Renault being involved in the crash-gate however, Grosjean's chances of retaining his seat through the 2010 campaign were diminished by the day.
Even though he was not guilty of anything, the Enstone organization wanted to turn the page on their 2009 campaign and have a fresh start in 2010. With Briatore and Symonds out the way, Fernando Alonso on his way to Ferrari and Renault selling 75 percent of their team to Genii Capital, he had no chance of convincing the new management that he deserves a clean start of his own.
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. With all the problems around the team, it wasn't easy – they wanted to make a clean sweep of the past. I want to come back in 2011. I'm not losing hope. When I see Fernando Alonso's results with Ferrari this year, I think I deserve a place on the grid. My pace was far from being ridiculous – I was never more than two or three tenths off him (Alonso) in qualifying,” said Grosjean in an interview with France Soir.
“I'm still in contact with (new Renault F1 team principal) Eric Boullier. We like and respect each other professionally and, once in Europe, I will walk around the paddock to establish other contacts and see if this could unlock something,” added the Swiss-born driver, who preferred to race under the French flag in F1.
For the time being, the 24-year old racer has settled to compete in the GT1 World Championship, with Matech team, where he already won a race at Abu Dhabi last weekend, in the season opener.
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