Jerome D’Ambrosio Positive After Being Plagued By KERs Failure

Jerome D’Ambrosio has ended his return to Formula 1 on a positive note, after suffering a majority of the Italian Grand Prix with a KERs failure on his Renault-powered Lotus E20. The Belgian driver, standing in for the banned Romain Grosjean, was able to finish 13th after a tough race long battle in the midfield.

The 26-year-old Belgian driver, who had not raced in the sport since the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix, started the race around the historic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza from 15th on the grid. After several laps into the race, D’Ambrosio was informed that his car had suffered a KERs failure, thus leaving him at a large disadvantage over the majority of the opposition. However, D’Ambrosio was able to battle his way through the 53-lap race to eventually finish only three places away from a point scoring position.

“It was a pretty long and difficult race for me today.” Explained Jerome D’Ambrosio, “After losing my KERs on lap 6 it was always going to be tough as that’s worth about half a second per lap around here. Once I lost that extra boost it was impossible to keep up and I dropped back. My main aim was to finish the race and I’ve achieved that so it’s not so bad overall. It was great to be back in the car and especially with such a fantastic team; I’ve learnt a lot this weekend.”

Jerome D’Ambrosio will now return to his reserve driver duties for the Lotus outfit, as Romain Grosjean prepares to return next time out for the Singapore Grand Prix after serving his one-race ban. The Frenchman will be eager to prove he has learned his lesson, after causing the first lap incident at the Belgian Grand Prix, amongst others. With the FIA proving a point by banning Grosjean at Spa-Francorchamps, it’s unquestionable that dangerous driving will not be tolerated in Formula 1.

Picture Copyright © Lotus F1 Team

Jerome D’Ambrosio Setting No Targets Ahead Of F1 Return

Jerome D’Ambrosio has set himself no major targets ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, in which the Belgian driver is set to make his return to the sport in place of the banned Romain Grosjean at Lotus. This will be D’Ambrosio’s first race since Brazil last year, after he was replaced at Virgin Racing (now Marussia) by Charles Pic.

Speaking ahead of his return this weekend, Jerome D’Ambrosio explained how he has not set himself any major targets. After being informed by the team he would be racing on Monday, the 26-year-old Belgian driver has had little time to prepare for his return to the sport. Unlike other teams up and down the grid, Lotus have not run Jerome D’Ambrosio during Friday practice this season. This means D’Ambrosio’s last taste of F1 machinery came at the Mugello mid-season test, on a treacherously wet track.

However, Jerome D’Ambrosio is net deterred by his lack of running in the Lotus E20, and is hopeful he can achieve a competitive result for his team this weekend. Lotus have finished on the podium in the last three races this season, and both Kimi Raikkonen and Jerome D’Ambrosio will undoubtedly be striving to continue this competitive streak as the Enstone-based outfit remain confident they can clinch the Drivers’ Championship this season.

“I don’t have much information to set myself a position target – or anything.” Explained Jerome D’Ambrosio, “I really want to stay focussed on what I’ve got to do, with the job, with the engineers, in the car. Stay focussed on that. Once that is done correctly we can hope for something good on Sunday – but only if I stay focussed on my job, so this is what I will try to do.”

Jerome D’Ambrosio’s maiden F1 season last year yielded no truly competitive results, however it is unquestionable that the Belgian driver has been offered a second chance to prove his worth this weekend in a car which is more than capable of finishing on the podium or better. With the possibility of vacancies at teams such as Sauber, Force India and Caterham next season, there is definitely a chance Jerome D’Ambrosio could find himself back in a full-time drive next season, especially if this weekend proves highly successful.

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Mika Salo Believes Closed Cockpits “Ridiculous” For F1

Former F1 driver Mika Salo believes the introduction of closed cockpits in Formula 1 to improve driver safety would be “ridiculous”, and would ultimately lead to the sport no longer being the top tier of open-wheel racing and would instead see the sport become a sportscar prototypes series.

After Romain Grosjean caused the huge opening lap incident during last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, in which Grosjean’s Lotus narrowly missed Alonso’s head, rumors up and down the paddock have been sparked at the possible introduction of closed cockpits by 2014. This theory has been greatly tested for many years, and would prevent incidences such as Felipe Massa and Henry Surtees in 2009, where both drivers were struck on the head by debris.

Mika Salo scored 33 points during his career in Formula 1.

However, former Arrows, Ferrari and Sauber driver Mika Salo has dismissed these theories as ridiculous. The Finn thinks that panicking after incidences such as was seen at Spa-Francorchamps is not a good idea, especially when no driver was seriously injured. Mika Salo contested 111 Grands Prix throughout his career, with a personal best finish of 2nd at the 1999 German Grand Prix when the Finn stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari.

“I think the idea of a closed cockpit is ridiculous for Formula One,” Explained Mika Salo, who competed in F1 between 1994 and 2002. “Actually, it would no longer be Formula One, it would be (sports car) prototypes. In my view it’s not a good idea to panic after an accident, especially when nothing happened [in terms of serious injuries].”

Since the end of Mika Salo’s F1 career, the Finn has raced in numerous other categories including ChampCar and Sportscars. He also became an FIA Drivers’ steward earlier in the year for the European Grand Prix at Valencia, and has since become a commentator for Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

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