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D'Ambrosio Gets Opportunity To Prove His Worth

Belgian Lotus third and reserve driver Jerome D'Ambrosio will be driving for Lotus at Monza in Italy, replacing the banned Romain Grosjean.

Grosjean, who was held responsible for the heavy crash at the start of the race at Spa-Francorchamps last time out, will have to sit out the race at Monza after he was slapped with a suspension by race stewards.

Grosjean actions were ruled to be "Extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others," and as such the Frenchman received a one-race ban.

There had been speculation that former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari or former Williams driver Rubens Barrichello would replace Grosjean next weekend in Italy. However, Lotus have now confirmed that their third and reserve driver Jerome D'Ambrosio will get an opportunity to prove his worth.

"When we signed Jérôme as our third driver we signed a man who is highly motivated, fresh, talented and who contested the full 2011 season," saysTeam Principal Eric Boullier. "We hope that this will pay dividends when he drives the car this weekend in Monza. We know that Jérôme is well integrated into the team and that he did a good job when he drove the E20 at the Mugello test. Now he has the challenge of a Grand Prix at the challenging circuit of Monza, in a car which is capable of finishing on the podium."

"One thing is for sure, he's half Italian and I think I know which driver the spectators will support apart from Fernando ! It's a tough task for Jérôme, but we will be supporting him in every way to achieve a good result."

D'Ambrosio, who lost his Virgin seat last year to Frenchman Charles Pic, is understandably delighted to have an opportunity to once again find himself in a race-seat.

"My desire for 2012 has always been to get back into the seat of a Formula 1 car so I am grabbing this opportunity with both hands," the Belgian said. "Monza is a fantastic circuit and I can't wait to take to the track on Friday. As third driver I have worked with the team at every Grand Prix, attending all the briefings and meetings that the race drivers do, so I am well prepared in this respect. Monza is a superb circuit, but it is also quite a technical one so I am not underestimating the task ahead of me."

"I want to reward the faith that the team has in me with a good haul of points from the race. I will hand the wheel back to Romain after Sunday's race and I hope that this one showing in Italy will allow me to show my capabilities fully," D'Ambrosio added.

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PDriverTeamPoints
1Max VerstappenRed Bull51
2Charles LeclercFerrari47
3Sergio PerezRed Bull46
4Carlos SainzFerrari40
5Oscar PiastriMcLaren28
6Lando NorrisMcLaren27
7George RussellMercedes18
8Fernando AlonsoAston Martin16
9Lance StrollAston Martin9
10Lewis HamiltonMercedes8
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14Kevin MagnussenHaas1
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16Daniel RicciardoRB0
17Esteban OconAlpine0
18Pierre GaslyAlpine0
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20Logan SargeantWilliams0
21Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber0
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2Scuderia Ferrari93
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3McLaren F1 Team55
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4Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team26
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7MoneyGram Haas F1 Team4
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9BWT Alpine F1 Team0
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2024 MotoGP Championship Standings (as of March 24)

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2Brad BinderRed Bull KTM42
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5Pedro AcostaGASGAS Tech328
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14Miguel OliveiraTrackhouse Racing8
15Joan MirRepsol Honda7
16Johann ZarcoLCR Honda Castrol5
17Augusto FernandezGASGAS Tech35
18Alex RinsMonster Energy Yamaha3
19Takaaki NakagamiLCR Honda Idemitsu2
20Franco MorbidelliPramac Racing0
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6Red Bull GASGAS Tech333
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7Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team27
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
8Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP18
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
9Trackhouse Racing8
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
10Repsol Honda Team7
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11LCR Honda Team7
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