 He finished an eventual third, ten points behind Pantano despite six fewer races.Di Grassi sought to race in Formula One in 2009 with Renault and speculation arose in the motor sport press over him replacing fellow countryman Nelson Piquet Jr. after the latter's poor performance compared to his teammate Fernando Alonso.Renault looked at running either di Grassi or fellow test driver Romain Grosjean for the season, but eventually chose to keep Piquet and Alonso.