romain Grosjean

We can argue over the semantics of the latest twist in the fate of Lotus in Formula One, but it can no longer be said that Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean are driving for Lotus.

This is precisely the kind of article I enjoy reading, a fly on the wall insight into a special event that most of us can only view from afar.

Created in 1988 by former Michèle Mouton, the only female WRC event winner, and Fredrik Johnsson, the Race of Champions has become the most eagerly-anticipated after party of the motorsport season. This year's event, run on the 3rd and 4th December, returned to Dusseldorf's ESPRIT Arena, the venue where relative newcomer Felipe Albuquerque took the overall ‘Champion of Champions’ cup in 2010.

It's hard not to feel sorry for Lotus Renault GP's long list of talented drivers, all carefully positioning themselves for the two available race seats in 2012 - then along comes the IceMan, performs the undercut and takes the chequered flag, before any of them has time to pick up the phone to team-boss Monsieur Boullier and cry "Foul!"

The press release begins, "Lotus Renault GP is pleased to announce that Kimi Räikkönen will race for the team next season.", but we're pretty sure than sentiment doesn't extend to existing drivers Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna, nor test and reserve driver Romain Grosjean.