Romain Grosjean goes into 2013 aiming to prove he is a changed man after a turbulent, controversy-filled return to Formula 1 last year.
The Frenchman, given a second chance at the top level by Lotus after an ill-fated seven-race sojourn at the end of 2009, starred and sinned in almost equal measure, scoring the first three podiums of his career but also becoming the first driver to be banned for a race for 18 years after he triggered a first corner pile-up at Spa.
The severe sanction appeared designed to teach the outwardly mild-mannered 26-year-old a lesson as much as anything, with the Belgian blunder one of seven first-lap incidents during the course of the season which earned him the unflattering "first-lap nutcase" label from Mark Webber.
Grosjean's reconfirmation at Lotus for 2013 was subsequently late in coming but his team boss, Eric Boullier, remains convinced the former GP2 champion remains a "great talent" capable of greater heights.
That talent was consistently displayed through the junior categories as the Swiss-born Frenchman made his way up the ladder through Formula Renault, Formula Three and, finally, GP2 in 2008-2009.
Confirmed as Renault's test driver for 2008, replacing Nelson Piquet Jr., who had stepped up into the role of race driver, Grosjean also replaced him as race driver 18 months later at the European GP after team boss Flavio Briatore sacked the beleaguered Brazilian.
His seven races, however, were anything but successful as Grosjean recorded a best result of P13 in Brazil. In his defense, however, the timing of the promotion was hardly ideal given the Enstone team were off the pace and soon embroiled in the fallout from the 'Crashgate' scandal.
His lack of points though signalled the end of his brief stint in F1, with Grosjean spending 2010 trying to rebuild his reputation in the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship and Auto GP, before returning to GP2 with the DAMS team.
With a full-time GP2 ride in 2011 with DAMS, Grosjean proved to be a class above the rest as he claimed the Asia Series title before going on to win the crown in the main series.
His performances, coupled with the fact that he is managed by Boullier, Briatore's replacement at Lotus Renault, resulted in a test driver role for the 2011 season which became a race seat 12 months later as the rebranded team made a wholesale change to their driver line-up.
Partnered with the similarly returning, but far more experienced Kimi Raikkonen, Grosjean layed down an impressive marker when he qualified third on his second debut in Melbourne. A sign of things to come, though, was his early collision with Pastor Maldonado.
Grosjean's early advantage over Raikkonen in qualifying became a trend but his impressive race drives - headlined by third places in Bahrain and Hungary and a runner-up spot in Canada - became increasingly overshadowed by his waywardness in close combat.
First-lap tangles in Malaysia, Spain, Monaco, Silverstone and Germany were followed by the mother of all errors at Spa, where he wiped out a swathe of cars, including title leader Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
Forced to sit out the Italian Grand Prix, Grosjean returned vowing to learn from his mistakes but the episode seemed to take something off his performances, as Raikkonen gained the upper hand in both qualifying and the race.
But with the slate wiped clean for 2013 and Grosjean able to start afresh the 26-year-old is confident he can become a more rounded performer.
