London - Frenchman Romain Grosjean will stay with Lotus in 2015 despite previously suggesting he might leave, he announced on Wednesday.
“A few days before the last Grand Prix of the season (in Abu Dhabi), I am very happy to announce that I will be a Lotus F1 Team driver in 2015!” Grosjean posted on his Facebook page.
“We are already working on the development of the new car and I am confident that next season will allow us to fight again for podiums.”
The 28-year-old has driven for Lotus since the start of the 2011 season but said ahead of the U.S Grand Prix two weeks ago that he might leave despite being contracted for another year.
Lotus have endured a difficult season, scoring 10 points with Grosjean earning eight of those.
He explained that performance clauses in his contract had not been met during the campaign, meaning he could break his current deal to move to another team.
PLAYING CATCH UP
Instead, the French driver, who recorded six podium finishes last year, has pledged to stay with Lotus next year in a bid to help them catch up with their rivals.
Lotus will be hoping the Frenchman is as quick around the track in 2015 as he was on his social media accounts, with Grosjean prematurely announcing his decision to stay with the team on Twitter before they had a chance to break the news.
“Must be about time to confirm Grosjean as driving for us next year. He's rather quick on a tweet button, so we've heard...,” the Lotus team tweeted shortly afterwards.
“So you heard it here last, Grosjean stays at Enstone for 2015. We're rather happy about that.”
Reuters