Jerome d’Ambrosio is close to securing his formula one race debut for 2011.

That is the claim of Eric Boullier, who is in charge not only of the Renault team, but also Genii Capital’s driver management arm Gravity.

Gravity negotiated Belgian d’Ambrosio’s current Friday role with Virgin, and he is also set to race alongside Timo Glock next year, depending on his management’s ability to compile the necessary budget.

“We have 95 per cent of the package together,” Frenchman Boullier told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.

“For the remaining 5 per cent,” he added, “it’s just a matter of days. I would be pleased to have a signed contract in his pocket by the last race in Abu Dhabi.”

Romain Grosjean has lauded Renault’s progress since he left the French team last year.

The Swiss born Frenchman, back in the F1 paddock this weekend for the GP2 support race, made his grand prix debut in 2009 to replace the ousted Nelson Piquet.

In the eight months since his last race with Renault, the team has emerged from the crashgate scandal and is now mostly owned by Genii Capital.

“Renault, bravo,” Grosjean, 24, told France’s Auto Hebdo.

“Compared to the situation they were in last year, nobody would have expected them to be where they are now.

“They have stepped up, bringing improvements to every race.  Even on a bad weekend, they are never very far away,” added Grosjean, appointed for his GP2 duties at Hockenheim by the Genii-controlled Gravity management arm.

He admitted he will use the opportunity this weekend to sound out any openings with F1 teams, but insisted that he does not regret agreeing to step into the sport with the troubled Renault team last season.

“No, and anyway, we didn’t have a choice.  On the day it was proposed to get into F1, ‘no’ was not an option,” he said.

“I don’t regret anything, or anything that has come afterwards,” added Grosjean.