Current IZOD IndyCar Series driver and former-F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello has stated that he would drive for Lotus at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in place of the banned Romain Grosjean, after a comment posted on the social networking site Twitter. The Brazilian driver started 322 races throughout his 18 seasons in F1.
Lotus are currently weighing up their opportunities after Romain Grosjean was issued a one race ban after causing the horrific opening lap incident during last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, in which the Frenchman was the catalyst in an incident which took out Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez.
With the Italian Grand Prix only several days away, Lotus are currently deciding who to select to fill in for the Frenchman. The team’s reserve driver Jerome D’Ambrosio is the likely candidate, however Formula 1 veteran Rubens Barrichello has stated he’ll happily accept an offer from the Enstone-based outfit to race at Monza. The Brazilian driver currently has a free weekend before the all-important season finale of the IZOD IndyCar Series at Fontana.
"People are asking [me] in the case the Lotus F1 team called me to race in Monza if I would go? The answer is yes!" Exclaimed the current KV Racing Technology driver, via the hugely popular social networking site Twitter.
Rubens Barrichello has won the Italian Grand Prix three times throughout his career (’02, ’04 and ’09), and could well be an enticing prospect for Lotus who will unquestionably prefer to have a former race winner in their highly competitive Lotus E20 instead of D’Ambrosio. Lotus have been widely predicted for victory many times this season, and with the high speed nature of the Monza circuit, they are most certainly contenders for victory this coming weekend.
The driver announcement will surely come within the next few days, as the selected candidate will be required to head straight to Monza to prepare for the weekend’s events. Whoever gets the one-off drive, Lotus will without a doubt expect at least a points finish as they battle for 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship.
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