Category: Renault

Bruno Senna will keep his Lotus Renault GP seat for the rest of the year following a formal break-up between the team and Nick Heidfeld. The separation was officially announced overnight and has been described as an “amicable settlement”.

LRGP Team Principal and Managing Director, Eric Boullier explains, “Our disagreement with Nick has been the subject of much media coverage lately, and we are pleased to have reached a swift and reasonable solution.

“Our separation process was already a painful one, and neither of us wanted to go through another legal hearing.”

In response Nick Heidfeld was very congenial, “Obviously I’m disappointed to be leaving Lotus Renault GP in the middle of the season. I thought I could still make a big contribution to the team, but I have to see things as they are and I want to turn my attention to the future.

“We have taken the right decision by choosing to end our collaboration today. I would like to wish all the friends I made at Enstone a successful end to the season. One thing is for sure – I’ll be back racing at the highest level soon.”

[Source: LRGP]

Lotus Renault GP has released an official update on Robert Kubica. The 26-year-old Polish driver is recovering from another round of surgery following his rally accident earlier in the year. It seems almost certain we won’t see Robert back in Formula One this year. Let’s hope he recovers well and is back in 2012.

You can read the team’s statement after the break.

As we reported earlier in the week Bruno Senna has replaced Nick Heidfeld at Lotus Renault GP and will race at Spa this weekend. At the time it was understood the new arrangement would remain in place for the remainder of 2011. However, Nick Heidfeld has other plans.

Commenting on his new Sunday plans Bruno Senna said, “Right now I am confirmed for this race and the next race (in Italy). But for some legal issues to be resolved, they can’t confirm if I am doing the rest of the year or not.”

Heidfeld has also arrived at the famous Belgian circuit in his LRGP team gear and was asked if he thought he would be racing in F1 again this year. He replied, “Yes, because we have court proceedings pending.

“I can’t tell you a lot. the main hearing will be in about three weeks and we will have a decision then and my position is that I have a valid contract and I want to drive.”

As always, F1 continues to deliver action on and off the track. We’ll keep an eye on this little spat and see how it pans out.

[Source: Reuters]

Lotus Renault GP will replace F1 veteran Nick Heidfeld with reserve driver Bruno Senna for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, according to BBC commentator Eddie Jordan. Although nothing has been confirmed by the team as yet.

Senna made an unspectacular debut in 2010 with the struggling Hispania Racing Team and crossed to LRGP in the off-season. He was hopeful of securing a drive following Robert Kubica’s rally accident, but missed out when the team opted for Heidfeld’s experience. However, Senna’s persistence and patience has paid off, it would seem, as we will once again see a Senna racing in the famous black and gold Lotus livery.

It’s also understood Senna will keep his seat for the rest of the season. That probably means the Hungarian GP was Heidfeld’s last race. He made his debut with the Prost team in 2000 and holds the unenviable record of being the driver with the most points and podium finishes without actually winning a race.

[Source: BBC]

UPDATE 25 August: Lotus Renault GP has confirmed Senna will drive at Spa.

Nick Heidfeld has been in the hot seat of late, coming under pressure at Renault for not performing to expectations. Last night at the Hungarian Grand Prix he found himself in a hot seat of a different kind.

As he was being released from his pit box Heidfeld’s car expelled smoke from its left sidepod and sparks were flying. It wasn’t long until the car had erupted into flames. He pulled over to the side of the track just after the pit exit and was able to safely leap out of his flaming Renault.

Fire marshals were quickly on hand to extinguish the blaze. Although one marshal got a rude shock when the affected sidepod exploded shooting debris into his leg.

Alan Permane, Lotus Renault GP Chief Race Engineer, explains, “Nick had a very poor start and struggled in the wet conditions. In his second pit stop we had a problem with one of the wheel nuts meaning that the car was sat at high revs for a long time. This meant a build-up of heat which caused a fire. Although it looked spectacular it was only a small part of bodywork which burnt on the left-hand sidepod.”

The video above shows footage of the incident from the TV cameras. After the break a fan video filmed at the track shows the sidepod explosion.