Lotus boss Eric Boullier is refusing to rule out Davide Valsecchi for a future in Romain Grosjean’s seat.
Having only narrowly hung onto his drive for 2013, Frenchman Grosjean is back in the wars this week in the wake of his four crashes in Monaco.
He will start ten places down the Montreal grid for the Daniel Ricciardo incident, reinvigorating talk that boss and manager Boullier could finally lose patience and replace Grosjean with the reigning GP2 champion Valsecchi, a 26-year-old Italian.
Valsecchi was signed by Boullier for 2013 to be Lotus’ new reserve driver.
"I don’t wish anything bad against Grosjean," the Italian driver had said last December, "but if he’s not there then I see myself as the favourite."
Now, in the wake of Grosjean’s latest troubles, Boullier was asked if Valsecchi is once again in pole position for his F1 debut.
According to Sporting Life, he answered: "Not yet."
Instead, Boullier backed Grosjean but said he will sit down for talks with the 27-year-old.
"We want him to keep the pace and make sure he is back in control, like he was at the beginning of the season," said Boullier.