After contesting the 2011 season as a race driver for Marussia Virgin Racing, Jérôme d’Ambrosio joins Lotus F1 Team for 2012 as third driver. Prior to his F1 debut, Jérôme contested the GP2 Series and GP2 Asia Series, and won the inaugural International Formula Master series.

Key Details

Date of birth: 27 December 1985
Place of birth: Etterbeek, Belgium
Nationality: Belgian

Key Dates

Pre 2002 – Karting

Jérôme starting karting at ten years old and was three times Belgian Champion, winning the Mini class in 1996, Junior in 2000 and Formula A in 2002. He won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2000, and won World Cup Formula A in 2002.

2003 – 2005 - Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium – 1st / Formula König / championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 / Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 / Formula Renault 2.0 Italia / Formula Renault Italia Winter Series – 3rd / Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 / Italian Formula 3000 light

D’Ambrosio moved into single-seaters in 2003, winning the Belgian Formula Renault (1.6 litre) championship, and finishing fourth in the German-based Formula König championship. He also won the Renault F1 Driver Development Programme, earning him a place on the programme for 2004. That year he finished fourth in the French Formula Renault 2-litre series. He switched to the Italian Formula Renault Championship in 2005, finishing fourth.

2006 – Euroseries 3000 / Formula Renault 3.5 Series / FIA GT championship 2007 – International Formula Master In 2006

He contested the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, with Tech 1 Racing, for four rounds. Then he switched to the Euroseries 3000, driving for Euronova Racing, taking three podium finishes and ending up fifth in the final standings despite missing the first half of the season. He also took part in a FIA GT Championship race, driving a Gillet Vertigo in the GT2 class. In 2007 he won the inaugural season of the International Formula Master series, with five race wins.

2008 – 2010 - GP2 Series DAMS GP2 Asia Series DAMS / Renault F1 Team Reserve Driver / Virgin Racing Test Driver

Jérôme contested the GP2 Series and GP2 Asia Series over three seasons, finishing as runner-up to team-mate Kamui Kobayashi in the Asia Series in the 2008-9 season. He took his first race win in the main Series in Monaco in 2010. In 2010 he also acted as reserve driver for Renault F1 Team and late in the season he drove for Virgin Racing during Friday first practice for three of the final four races.

2011 – Marussia Virgin Racing Race Driver

In 2011 Jérôme graduated to a race seat with Marussia Virgin Racing, as team-mate to Timo Glock. His best finishes were two 14th places, in Australia and Canada. In his home race, the Belgian Grand Prix, he finished 17th, beating his team-mate, Timo Glock.

Jérôme D’Ambrosio has joined the team as third driver for the 2012 Formula 1 World championship season. Jérôme, who competed last year as a race driver for Marussia Virgin Racing, will attend all races in 2012, working with the race driver pairing of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. The 26 year-old Belgian will participate in driver debrief sessions and be ready to stand-in for either of the two race drivers if required.

How does it feel to join the team?

It’s a great feeling to be joining Lotus F1 Team and it’s an exciting next step in my career. I contested a complete season in F1 as a race driver for a smaller team where I learnt a lot about Formula 1. Now I have the opportunity to work with one of the top teams with great potential for my future development. With my recent race experience I know I can make a valuable contribution to the team.

What do you think of Enstone?

I have known the team for a number of years and I am familiar with Enstone. It’s a great facility and another world in size and amount of people; it’s bigger and has so much potential and will give me so much opportunity to learn and develop as a race driver.

There’s a new ‘Driver in the loop’ simulator being built – will you be using this?

The new simulator will make up a big part of my contribution to the team during the season and it will also keep me sharp; I’m really looking forward to it and can’t wait to start working with it. I can contribute highly to the team in this area. It’s going to be a really intense programme once we’re operational in that area – it’s not just one session a week, it’s full on. It’s a really good tool for pushing development of the car and of myself as a driver so I am looking forward to doing a good job here.

As a driver who contested last season’s championship what can you bring to the team?

I had a great season in Formula 1 and it was a fantastic opportunity but now I’m looking to develop. I can bring a lot more to the team with my race experience than someone who doesn’t have any recent race knowledge.
When you’re first in Formula 1, everything is so new and so big. It’s difficult to know where your focus should be, and how you should work, but this improves as your experience comes together. I know the tyres, I know the different compounds, I have experience of the circuits and car set-up so I can contribute to the discussions with engineers and race drivers.
I am very motivated to help the two race drivers and the team in any way I can, and of course I am always ready to get into the car if the opportunity ever arises. Having contested the 2011 season I’m race fit and raring to go.

What do you think of your team- mates, Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean?

I’ve never met Kimi so I’m looking forward to meeting him. He’s a legend in Formula 1. I’m looking forward to watching him work with the engineers and understanding how a world champion goes about his work. I know Romain pretty well as we’ve raced together and been team- mates, we’re the same generation of drivers, and we work well together.