The Renault F1 Team announced today that Nelson Piquet has been released from his obligations to the team with immediate effect. His departure follows a mutual agreement that this course of action is in the best interests of both parties. Swiss-Frenchman Romain Grosjean has been appointed as the second driver and will race alongside Fernando Alonso at this weekend’s European Grand Prix in Valencia and for the remainder of the 2009 season.
This season Grosjean has been the team’s third driver and has attended all races, which has allowed him to gain experience and become fully integrated with the team. The 23-year-old has been supported by Renault since he was 18 years old and became part of Renault’s Driver Development programme (RDD) in 2006 after winning the French Formula Renault title. In 2007 he was Formula 3 Euro Series champion and in 2008 he won the GP2 Asia Series.
Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi will assume third driver duties in Valencia whilst continuing with his GP2 series campaign.
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