Grosjean on Haas F1 test: "They made me cry!"
Romain Grosjean drove an F1 car for the first time nearly five years on from his Bahrain GP crash in a TPC outing with Haas at Mugello
Five years on from his Formula 1 career-ending Bahrain Grand Prix accident, Romain Grosjean made an emotional return to F1 in a Mugello test.
A Haas driver from 2016 to 2020 before he moved on to IndyCar, Grosjean got the chance to drive the team’s VF-23 car from the 2023 campaign alongside F1 TV pundit and former IndyCar racer James Hinchcliffe, who got his first taste of F1 for an upcoming feature on the championship’s official broadcast channel.
Little information has emerged about the test day, which took place alongside Pirelli development running, other than the occurrence of rain; regardless, Grosjean was ecstatic following his experience – and the emotion of an ovation in the pitlane.
“It was a wet day, but as we say, it was a rainy wedding, a rainy happy wedding,” the 39-year-old said. “So it was a rainy day, happy day, fantastic.
“Just felt a bit rusty at first, and then everything came back. I even got to do a standing start, and guess what, my last standing start was Bahrain 2020. So this time it turned out way better.
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Haas F1 Team
“Very grateful, very unique opportunity getting to see some of the people that were in Australia 2016 and get to drive the new generation of cars. It was fantastic and, again, I'm very, very grateful. There's just no other words.”
Team principal Ayao Komatsu, who followed Grosjean from Lotus to Haas as a race engineer for 2016, and heritage chief engineer Dominic Haines, who was Grosjean’s race engineer from 2019-2020, were in attendance among many friendly faces for the Geneva native.
“They made me cry at the end of the day!” Grosjean exclaimed. “I kept my visor down, but for my last in-lap, everyone from Ferrari, Red Bull, Pirelli and of course Haas F1 team was here, clapping and giving me like an ovation.
“That's something I was expecting in Abu Dhabi 2020 [for his planned F1 farewell], but I think it was even better today.”
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Haas F1 Team
Share Or Save This Story
Le Mans 24h, H8: Safety car blows race wide open
Le Mans 24h, H1: Toyota takes lead from 15th on the grid
How Romain Dumas is walking in the footsteps of other Le Mans legends
Vettel claims F1 is losing its DNA – but does it even exist?
Romain Grosjean exits Lamborghini after 2025 IMSA season
The missing factor that Grosjean developed too late to transform his F1 career
When Haas will decide on its F1 2027 driver line-up
Haas warns against raising F1 cost cap to fix 2027 power unit issues
Where you can find the best battles of F1 2026
LIVE: Le Mans 24 Hours Commentary and Updates
Le Mans 24h, H8: Safety car blows race wide open
How “reset” Russell fended off “recalibrated” Hamilton for Barcelona GP pole
Verstappen surprised as Red Bull halves gap to Mercedes: “I don’t fully understand it”
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments