Renault team boss Eric Boullier has admitted he is working hard to bring Romain Grosjean back to formula one.
French broadcaster TF1’s commentator Christophe Malbranque announced last week that 24-year-old Grosjean is set to be the team’s third driver in 2011.
Renault has retained Vitaly Petrov alongside Robert Kubica for 2011, but Frenchman Boullier admitted to Autohebdo that he would like to see a countryman back on the grid.
As well as running the Enstone based team, Boullier also still heads Gravity Sport, the driver management arm of Renault F1 shareholder Genii Capital.
"I would like to see a Frenchman on the podium, or at least with a good team," he said.
"We talk about it at Enstone or Genii Capital very often and we are trying everything to reach a solution quickly," added Boullier.
"But nothing is simple," he continued. "We need a no.1 at a very high level and we need Petrov and what he brings.
"We are working very hard to get Romain Grosjean a seat and also to bring along other young people. France needs to have a good driver in F1," said Boullier.