Virgin Racing Team officially sign Jerome d’Ambrosio for the 2011 Formula 1 season
There were a lot of rumours that Virgin Racing Team was hoping to sign the Belgian driver Jerome d’Ambrosio alongside Timo Glock for the 2011 Formula 1 season after the young driver impressed the Formula 1 world during the Friday practice sessions in 2010.
D’Ambrosio was the test driver for Virgin Racing Team in 2010 and after his exceptional performance, the team decided to replace him with Lucas di Grassi for the Singapore, Japanese, Korean and Brazilian Grand Prix before the grand finale in Abu Dhabi. Just
like Pastor Maldonado, Jerome also brings in a sponsor along with his deal from Gravity Sport Management Company that is owned by Lotus Renault GP.
John Booth, Virgin’s team boss is extremely happy about this deal and he believes that the young Belgian will help the team evolve and produce better results with due time.
“We had followed his progress in GP2 closely and it was clear he was 'one to watch', but when we put him in the car for the four race weekends and the Abu Dhabi test he surpassed even our own expectations,” said John.
He believes that Jerome is perfect for the team at the moment as he impressed most teams and people in the sport. Other than that, D’Ambrosio has the ability to work with a team and help everyone in their respective jobs as much as he can and he is fun to
hang out with.
“He has secured this seat absolutely on merit and I think coupled with Timo we have the perfect blend of youth, experience, speed and potential and we can't wait to see what they can achieve together next season,” Booth added.
Obviously, Jerome is also happy with this development as it has been quite difficult to find a seat in Formula 1 for 2011 since the sport already has almost all the best drivers this world has to offer including Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Lewis
Hamilton.
“When I came to the team in September this year it was everything I could hope for. I feel very comfortable with them - they are extremely professional and ambitious people and it is exciting to think that I can be a part of shaping the team's future,” said
D’Ambrosio.
Timo Glock is also happy to have the young Belgian driver by his side and wished his teammate the best of luck for next year.
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