Romain Grosjean

Successful years in junior categories

Romain Grosjean brought a wealth of experience in open-wheel racing to his NTT IndyCar Series debut with Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing in 2021. Grosjean claimed the title in the French Formula Renault in 2005, and in 2007, the now-former Formula 1 driver won the Formula 3 Euro Series championship.

In 2008, he won the GP2 Asia Series title, and the following year, Grosjean finished fourth in the GP2 Series. His season was shortened as the Renault F1 Team had him make his Formula 1 debut mid-season, after deciding to replace their regular driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., following a string of poor results from the Brazilian.

Despite Grosjean performing quite well in his first seven Formula 1 races, the 23-year-old driver did not return to the Formula 1 grid in 2010. Instead, he competed in the GP2 Series, Auto GP, and the FIA GT1 World Championship. With four wins in Auto GP for DAMS, Grosjean secured his fifth motorsport title. In 2011, he added the GP2 Series and GP2 Asia Series titles to his collection.

Full-time debut in Formula 1

In 2012, after many successes in various junior categories, Romain Grosjean made his full-time debut in Formula 1 with the Lotus team. His first full season was strong: the Frenchman set the fastest lap once and stood on the podium three times, with a second-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix as his best result. In 2013, things improved further for the former GP2 Series champion, finishing seventh in the standings, one position higher than the previous year, where he finished eighth.

Like in 2012, Grosjean regularly made it to the podium in 2013. The Lotus driver finished third five times and secured another second-place finish during the United States Grand Prix. After two successful seasons, Lotus became far less competitive in 2014. Grosjean finished in the points only twice and ended the season 14th in the championship. In 2015, however, things improved again, and with ten points finishes, Grosjean achieved a podium by finishing third in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Years at Haas F1

Starting in 2016, Grosjean became part of the then-new Haas Formula 1 project. Despite a strong start with sixth- and fifth-place finishes in the first two races, this momentum did not carry forward in subsequent years, although the team made progress until 2018. When both 2019 and 2020 proved to be disastrous seasons for the Haas F1 Team and drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, the team informed them in 2020 that there would be no place for them starting in 2021.

A few months after this announcement, during the penultimate race of the 2020 Formula 1 season in Bahrain, Romain Grosjean experienced a horrific crash. As a result, the Frenchman missed the final two races, bringing his Formula 1 career to an early end. Shortly before this race, Grosjean had expressed serious interest in racing full-time in the NTT IndyCar Series from 2021. It later emerged that Haas was even willing to sponsor his potential IndyCar seat.

Crash alters plans

The crash in Bahrain changed the plans for both Haas and Grosjean himself. Instead of competing in the full 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season, the Frenchman decided to skip three of the four oval races that year. After his terrifying crash, Grosjean wasn’t ready to race on the larger ovals. Consequently, he also skipped the 2021 Indianapolis 500 but did participate in the final oval race of the year at the shorter World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

While Grosjean skipped three of the four oval races in 2021, including the Indianapolis 500, he made a strong impression on the road and street circuits. With two second-place finishes, both on the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he caught the attention of Michael Andretti.

Andretti Autosport's team principal decided to bring Grosjean to his team for the 2022 season. This year, Grosjean did not skip any oval races, completing his first full NTT IndyCar Series season. Despite a second-place finish at Long Beach, it was a difficult year, with Grosjean finishing only 13th in the championship.

2023: inconsistency and crashes

In 2023, Grosjean continued with Andretti Autosport. Despite a promising start to the season, he stood out mostly for his numerous mistakes and crashes. Andretti Autosport decided not to renew his contract, and Grosjean found a new home for 2024 with the smaller Juncos Hollinger Racing.

New start with Juncos Hollinger Racing

At Juncos Hollinger Racing, Grosjean hoped to shine as he had done with Dale Coyne Racing. However, the season turned out differently: the Frenchman only occasionally showed his speed. Of the seventeen races, Grosjean finished in the top ten just six times, leaving him in 17th place in the championship.