Saturday August 29, 2009
French rookie Grosjean laughing all the way to the bank
FRENCH driver Romain Grosjean is banking on Formula One success after making his debut for Renault in Spain last weekend.
The Geneva-based 23-year-old, who holds dual nationality, works part time at a Swiss bank when not behind the wheel and he is not about to give up the day job now that he has reached the pinnacle of motor racing.
Romain Grosjean “I am still working in Geneva in the bank and I went on Tuesday morning, the only day I had in Geneva, and it was very good to stay with my previous life and get back to the bank,” he told a Belgian Grand Prix news conference on Thursday.
“Everybody was very happy to see me there and it was a great moment.”
In a team preview for tomorrow’s race, Grosjean said working at the bank, Baring Brothers Sturdza, kept him in touch with the real world.
“I think it’s important to continue like this as I enjoy working there and this routine has always worked well for me in the past,” he said.
McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, who also made his Formula One debut for Renault in 2007, sounded sceptical.
“I think what Romain did was to go on Tuesday to check his bank account to see if (Renault team boss) Flavio (Briatore) had already paid it for him,” he grinned.
Grosjean, who replaced Nelson Piquet after the Brazilian failed to score a point in 10 races, finished 15th in Valencia on Sunday.
“The team helped me a lot before Valencia trying to send me as much information as possible and here I think they are doing the same,” he said of the task ahead.
“We have to take the weekend in the same way that we did Valencia, trying to improve session by session and to see what we can achieve by the end of the weekend.” — Reuters
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