Why Grosjean is on his way to the GP2 title

As GP2 joins Formula 1 in bursting back into life at Spa next week, the series is on the verge of crowning its seventh champion in the form of Romain Grosjean.

The DAMS driver's 25-point lead in the GP2 standings is not the biggest there has ever been in the history of the series. Nor is it beyond the record for the biggest points turnaround in a title fight. But Grosjean's performances in the back-to-back German and Hungarian rounds before the summer break effectively took the last remaining breaths out of the battle.

In the early rounds, GP2 2011 was shaping into a classic. None of the fancied contenders could get a foothold in the title race, and every weekend we came away with them all just as tightly bunched as ever.

Ironically, it was a moment of madness from Grosjean that changed all that. Having been handed a victory in the main race at Valencia when Giedo van der Garde was given a drive-through penalty while leading, Grosjean was starting to get a real spring in his step.

He sensed everything was starting to go his way and, despite plenty of misfortune of his own in the early races, the title was there for the taking. Then, at the start of race two, he reverted to the Romain Grosjean of old.

This was the character who had the same blinding speed, but seemed to dilute that with an occasional disregard for his rivals and their right to exist ahead or around him on the track. It was a trait that earned him few friends in 2007, when he (at times) bulldozed his way to the Formula 3 Euro Series title.

From eighth on the partially-reversed grid, Grosjean spotted a gap that nobody else could really see down into the first braking zone, and his yellow car pinballed between those of title rivals Sam Bird and Davide Valsecchi. Two corners later it became clear that the Frenchman had damaged his own car too, as he spun in front of the pack and was collected by Charles Pic and Rodolfo Gonzalez.

The championship leader's behaviour was widely slammed by those in the paddock, and he felt the wrath of some rival teams in particular when the matter was dealt with in the stewards' office.

Valencia was a difficult race for Grosjean © LAT

Renault F1 team boss Eric Boullier - the man in charge of Grosjean's destiny - was not impressed either. He is a fan of his talents, but he's not averse to a bit of tough love. In 2010 he briefly dropped him from his Gravity driver scheme to act as a wake-up call. Grosjean knuckled down last year and proved his worth, landing him another crack at the GP2 title this year.

He arrived on the scene for this year under strict instructions that winning was not all that was required. Grosjean had to show that he had matured, and that he could lead a team that had slipped into the midfield and bring back the glory days.

It is understood that Boullier's sentiments towards his driver post-Valencia were along the lines of, 'I don't want to see the old Romain again'. Just because things were starting to go well was no reason to believe that it was going to be a cakewalk back into F1 from here.

Whatever was actually said, there was a noticeable, title-deciding change in Grosjean from the next race.

He arrived at Silverstone with a one-point lead over second place, and only 10 points over fifth. Six races later, those numbers read 25 and 39 respectively.

Nico Hulkenberg made up a 27-point margin on Grosjean in 2009, shortly before the Frenchman departed for his unfortunately brief spell with Renault in F1. Yes, the big gap can be overcome, but only in exceptional circumstances. Grosjean points out that he is a "different person" compared to two years ago, and his approach of late has suggested that he's not about to start chucking points in the direction of his pursuers now that the crown is so tantalisingly close.

"To be honest I have been pretty cautious for the last couple of races," he says. "We haven't always had the fastest car but have still had very good results.

"My personal goal is to win this title, so I will do everything I can every time we go out on track. As soon as there are other drivers between me and the other contenders, then that's fine."

That last comment has been backed up in recent races. At the Nurburgring he opted against getting into a fierce scrap with Luca Filippi and Pic, because his closest title rivals van der Garde and Bird were behind him. The next day he sat behind Jules Bianchi for lap after lap, before snatching the win when his countryman made a mistake on the penultimate lap.

Celebrating victory in Hungary © LAT

Next time out in Hungary, he found himself in an enthralling battle with ART Grand Prix's rookie Esteban Gutierrez in the closing laps of the sprint race. Grosjean, on an older set of wet-weather tyres than the Mexican, defended as much as he dared.

But he had already made his mind up - if Gutierrez wanted to take any big risks, the door would be left open for him. Sure enough, when the reigning GP3 champion went for a lunge into the final corner, on the final lap, there was no way the yellow car was turning in.

After Grosjean first started to pull away in the title race at Silverstone, the most frequently-uttered line form his rivals was along the lines of: "He's bound to have some bad luck, so we just need to capitalise on that."

But the man himself is quick to point out that his season has already included plenty of setbacks. He came away from Barcelona with no points after he was excluded from race one following a failed ride-height test. Then, after crashing in a chaotic qualifying session in Monaco, he lined up last on the grid.

He went back to his hotel that night and told himself that the title was going to be a long shot, yet he went from 26th to fourth in race one the next day.

His accident in Valencia came with a double-whammy, as he was (rightly) blamed for the shunt and given a 10-place grid penalty for the next round at Silverstone. But he overcame that by calmly racing his way from 13th to fourth, and then winning the sprint race in similar fashion.

Grosjean could seal the title at Spa © LAT

After getting held up in qualifying at the Nurburgring and having to settle for third on the grid, Grosjean was convinced that he would have been comfortably on pole. When Pic suggested that the title fight was still open if the leader had some bad luck, Grosjean's response was: "I've already got some. How much more do they want?"

As the paddock prepared for the summer holidays on the Sunday of the Hungaroring weekend, the mood of the chasing pack was a defeated one. They all know that they're in a fight for second now - and what a fight that's going to be.

Several drivers are in contention for the runner-up spot, which is still a coveted honour to have on your CV. In fact, all six previous championship runners-up - Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Jr, Lucas di Grassi, Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov and Sergio Perez - have gone on to Formula 1.

Bird, a man firmly in that fight for second, explains the importance of the scrap for best of the rest: "The standard is really high at the front this year. There are a lot more experienced drivers than usual - you only have to look at how little the rookies have fared at the front. Romain has a gap out in front, but the battle for second is going to be great."

The iSport driver is not wrong. Grosjean may have detached himself from the group of drivers who were all in title contention early in the campaign, but that pack is going to provide plenty of fireworks between now and the end of the season.