IndyCar farewell: F1 veteran Grosjean opens a new chapter in his career

Romain Grosjean was part of the Formula 1 circuit for more than ten years. The French-Swiss dual national, who grew up in Geneva, made his Grand Prix debut in 2009, taking over the Renault cockpit from Nelson Piquet Jr. in Valencia and completing the remaining seven World Championship rounds for the French car manufacturer’s works team.

This was followed by a year on the sidelines before he returned to the starting grid with the Enstone-based team, which was by then competing under the name Lotus F1 Team. Over the following nine years, he competed in the premier class of motor racing, driving for the Lotus team until the end of 2015, before moving to the then-newcomer Haas.

He made it onto the GP podium ten times whilst at Lotus, but was unable to repeat this feat in the Haas car. His best result with the US team was fourth place, which he secured at the Red Bull Ring in 2018. His final season came to a premature end following a spectacular fire accident in Bahrain; he was unable to compete in the last two races of the 2020 season due to the injuries he sustained in the crash, which, fortunately, were not serious.

Following his departure from Formula 1, Grosjean moved to the IndyCar Series, where he competed as a regular driver for five years and spent a year as a reserve driver for the Prema Team, watching from the sidelines. During this time, he stood on the podium seven times; this year, too, he finished second. However, the now 40-year-old racing driver was unable to secure a seat for 2027.

He therefore assumes that his career in single-seaters has come to an end. Speaking to “Racer.com”, Grosjean said: “The truth is that this will probably be the end of my single-seater career. My focus will be on endurance racing in future, simply because the stressful lifestyle is very exhausting.”

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Romain Grosjean: Highs and lows in his final IndyCar season

“This year has been tough too,” admits the Formula 1 veteran. “But I’ve also had some great moments, such as when I was leading at the Indy 500. I finished the race in the top 10 and, for most of the final 60 laps, I was even running in the top five. That was fantastic. At Markham, I secured a podium finish, which was incredible given my ‘tractor’.”

“But then it was on to Milwaukee and Laguna Seca; at Laguna Seca, I qualified almost last. I know this is one of my best circuits, so I thought to myself: ‘I don’t want this anymore. I’ve had enough of this situation where I simply don’t have the right resources to compete. That’s why I think my career in single-seaters is over, and that I’d rather compete in endurance racing now, where you work more with people on a human level, have fun and win races.”