Grosjean seat confirmed

As expected Lotus will remain unchanged for 2013 with Romain Grosjean confirmed once again as Kimi Raikkonen's team-mate.

The 26-year-old Frenchman had been expected to remain with the team, although a bunch of incidents, which culminated in a race ban following the first corner crash in Belgium began to put some doubts on whether Lotus would lose faith in him.

So a decision which had been expected to come during the season is now formally announced a month after the season ended.

“It’s fantastic for me to be continuing with Lotus F1 Team for 2013, It’s superb to have the support of everyone at Enstone. I’m really looking forward to rewarding their faith when we take to the track in Australia.” said Grosjean to formula1.com.

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier reportedly held post-season talks with Grosjean in a bid to discuss the multiple incidents that occurred during 2012 and hopefully ensure that they wouldn't be repeated next season.

Grosjean readily admits that he has learned a lot from the experience of the 2012 Formula One World Championship and his race ban from the Italian Grand Prix.

But then he said that when he initially returned from his ban, only to crash again in Singapore.

“I learnt a lot in my first full season in Formula One and my aim is to put these lessons into practice with stronger and more consistent performance on track next year,'

“There are a lot of exciting developments occurring behind the scenes at Enstone and I am very excited with the prospect of the E21. I’ve already had my seat fitting and spoken with all the personnel involved with the build of the new car; I just can’t wait to get behind the wheel.”

Lotus will be hoping that Grosjean can iron out his erratic style, because when he does avoid incidents, he has picked up good points.

He scored three podium finishes during the season, finishing third in Bahrain and Hungary and second in Canada.

He scored 96 points in the Championship, enough to finish 8th in the F1 drivers championship and help Lotus to a 4th place finish in the F1 constructors championship [although Kimi Raikkonen did outscore Mercedes and the rest of the field single handedly on route to finishing 3rd in the drivers standings].