Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the

NTT IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine full-time seasons in Formula One for a variety of teams, picking up 10 podiums, all with Lotus. He dominated the 2005 French Formula Renault championship at his first attempt and joined the Renault young driver programme. He was the 2007 Formula 3 Euro Series drivers' champion. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, he became the inaugural GP2 Asia Series champion and came fourth in his first year in GP2. In he made his Formula One debut for Renault at the and came fourth again in GP2 despite missing the final eight races. After being dropped by Renault, he returned to junior formulae, winning the 2010 Auto GP championship at the first attempt and winning the 2011 GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series becoming the first – and , only – two-time GP2 Asia champion and the only driver to hold both the GP2 Asia series and main GP2 series titles simultaneously. Due to the Asia and Main GP2 series being discontinued, this will likely remain true for the foreseeable future. In , Grosjean returned to Formula One with the

Lotus F1 Team Lotus F1 Team was a British Formula One racing team. The team competed under the Lotus name from until , following the renaming of the former Renault team based at Enstone in Oxfordshire. The Lotus F1 Team was majority owned by Genii Capital ...

, alongside Kimi Räikkönen. He took his first Formula One podium at the

2012 Bahrain Grand Prix The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2012 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 22 April 2012 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the first time Formula One returned ...

and took his first fastest lap in the

2012 Spanish Grand Prix The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Santander 2012) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 2012, at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain, attended by 82,000 people. It was the fifth round of t ...

. He became the first driver since 1994 to receive a race ban after causing a multi-car pile-up, at the

2012 Belgian Grand Prix The 2012 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the 2012 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps near the village of Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium on 2 September 2012, the fi ...

. In he remained with Lotus, taking six podiums. He drove for Lotus again alongside Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado in the and seasons and achieved a podium finish at the

2015 Belgian Grand Prix The 2015 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 23 August 2015 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium. It was the eleventh round of the 2015 Formula One season, ...

before moving to Haas from to . In what would be his final Formula One race, Grosjean survived a dramatic crash during the

2020 Bahrain Grand Prix The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2020) was a Formula One motor race that took place over 57 laps on 29 November 2020 on the 'Grand Prix Circuit' configuration at the Bahrain Internationa ...

when his car separated in two and caught fire after penetrating a metal guardrail on the first lap. Grosjean sustained minor burns and credited the halo with saving his life. After the 2020 Formula One season, Grosjean moved to the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

. He obtained his first pole position and podium in his third race, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Early life

Grosjean was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He was born to a Swiss father and a French mother. He is the great-grandson of

Edgar Brandt Edgar William Brandt (24 December 1880 – 8 May 1960) was a French ironworker and prolific weapons designer. In 1901 he set up a small workshop at 76 rue Michel-Ange in the 16th arrondissement in Paris, where he began designing, silversmithing, ...

, weapon designer and founder of Brandt. He is also the grandson of skier Fernand Grosjean, silver medalist in giant slalom at the 1950 World Ski Championship in

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (C ...

Early racing career

Grosjean won all ten rounds of the 2003 Formula Lista Junior championship and moved to the

French Formula Renault The Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup (WEC) was a Formula Renault 2.0 championship that replaced the Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 as of 2008, He was seventh in that first season with one win and was champion in 2005 with ten victories. He also appeared in the Formula Renault Eurocup and finished on the podium twice in Valencia. With his results and potential in the

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

series, Grosjean joined the Renault Driver Development programme for the continuation of his career.

Formula Three

Grosjean made his Formula Three debut at the

2005 Macau Grand Prix The 2005 Macau Grand Prix (formally the 52nd Macau Grand Prix) was a motor race for Formula Three cars that was held on the streets of Macau on 20 November 2005. Unlike other races, such as the Masters of Formula 3, the 2005 Macau Grand Prix w ...

, standing in for Loïc Duval at

Signature-Plus Signatech, formerly known as Signature, is a French auto racing team and racing car constructor that competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team won the FIA European Formula Three Cup in 1999 with Benoît Tréluyer. It won the F ...

. He qualified 19th and raced to ninth, beating teammates Fábio Carbone and Guillaume Moreau. He did a full season in the 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series but had a tough year, taking only one podium finish and ending the year 13th. In a one-off appearance in the British Formula Three Championship he started on pole position for both races at Pau, won both, and set the fastest lap in each. He stayed in the Formula 3 Euro Series for

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

but moved to the ASM team, for which Jamie Green, Lewis Hamilton, and

Paul di Resta Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986) is a British racing driver from Scotland, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot Sport in their LMH entry. He drove in Formula One for Force India from to , and became a reserve driver ...

won the previous three titles. Sébastien Buemi led the championship in the early stages but Grosjean moved ahead with a victory in the ninth race of the season at Mugello. He maintained a lead in the standings from that point onwards and won the title at the final round of the year with one race in hand. Grosjean took pole position for the prestigious

Masters of Formula 3 The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Zolder. However ...

race at Zolder but finished 14th after stalling at the start.

GP2 Series

Grosjean drove for ART in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...

GP2 Asia Series season alongside

Stephen Jelley Stephen Jelley (born 12 May 1982) is a British auto racing driver. Career Single-seaters Born in Leicester, Jelley moved up from Formula Ford to the National Class of the British Formula 3 Championship for 2004, taking three class wins. In 20 ...

, winning both races of the first round of the championship. He went on to win the championship with four race victories and sixty-one points overall. He stayed with

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. Th ...

team for the 2008 GP2 Series. His teammates were Luca Filippi and

Sakon Yamamoto is a Japanese racing driver turned politician. He competed in 21 Formula One Grands Prix during the , 2007 and 2010 seasons. Before Formula One Yamamoto was born in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. He began his racing career in 1994 at the Suzuka ...

. In the first round at the

Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has ...

, Grosjean started 11th after engine problems in qualifying. He rose through the field to finish fifth in the feature race, giving him fourth on the grid for the shorter sprint race. After a good start Grosjean was up to second and then passed Kobayashi for the lead. But Grosjean made a mistake on a late rolling restart and Kobayashi tried to pass him again for the lead. Grosjean moved across on Kobayashi to keep the position but the stewards decided his defensive move was illegal and gave him a drive-through penalty dropping him to 13th at the end of the race. Victory in the sprint race at Istanbul, the fourth round of the season, moved Grosjean into second place in the championship. Despite dropping back from this position, he finished the season fourth and achieved the distinction of being the highest-placed rookie in the championship.

2008 Formula 3 Euro Series The 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the sixth championship year of Europe's premier Formula Three series. The season was dominated by 21-year-old German Nico Hülkenberg, who won seven of the season's ten feature races amassing 76 of his to ...

champion Nico Hülkenberg joined Pastor Maldonado at ART for 2009, forcing Grosjean out of the team. Nonetheless, Renault placed him at 2008 team champions Campos Grand Prix for 2009, now known as Barwa Addax. Despite missing the last four rounds, Grosjean finished fourth in the championship standings.

Initial stint in Formula One

Grosjean was confirmed as Renault's test driver for , replacing

Nelson Piquet Jr. Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...

, who graduated to a race seat. He drove a Formula One car for the first time at the UK round of the 2008 World Series by Renault weekend at Silverstone on 7 and 8 June 2008, where he gave a number of demonstrations of the previous year's R27 car.

Renault (2009)

He initially continued in the test driver role at Renault for 2009 but took over Piquet's seat in the wake of the Crashgate controversy from the onwards. Grosjean qualified 14th at the . He was knocked out of Q2 0.323 seconds off the pace of teammate

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and M ...

. He finished 15th in the race after a first-lap collision with

Luca Badoer Luca Badoer (born 25 January 1971) is an Italian former racing driver. Badoer has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti and most recently, Ferrari teams. In addition to his racing duties, Badoer was one of the active test and reserve driv ...

necessitated a stop for a new front wing. For the next round in Belgium Grosjean qualified 19th, which he blamed on traffic and yellow flags. In the race, he was eliminated on the first lap after a collision with

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...

. At the , Grosjean qualified a career-best 12th, but made a poor start, damaged his car with contact at the first corner, spun on the second lap, and finished 15th. He described himself as "very disappointed" after the race. Romain Grosjean 2009 Europe

At the , Grosjean qualified 19th after suffering brake problems. He was hopeful of making progress in the race, but the brake problems reappeared, forcing him to retire after just three laps. At the , Grosjean qualified 18th, which he blamed on rain throughout practice preventing him from fully learning the demanding Suzuka Circuit, which he had never driven on before. He was promoted to 17th due to Timo Glock being unable to start the race. He was unable to make progress in the race, finishing 16th after struggling with understeer throughout the race on the unfamiliar circuit. At the , Grosjean suffered an accident in practice, although he escaped unhurt. He qualified 13th in his repaired car, gained positions at the start, but then slipped back down to 13th after complaining of grip and tyre temperature problems, his best result of the season. At the season-ending , Grosjean qualified 19th, and finished 18th and last, again complaining of brake problems during the race. He said afterward that he had "learnt an enormous amount this year, especially being a teammate to Fernando". On 31 January 2010, after the end of the season news reports had doubts that Grosjean would keep his seat into 2010, Renault confirmed that Grosjean's former GP2 teammate at the

Addax Team Addax, or Barwa Addax was a Spanish motorsport team owned by the bank Addax Capital, which competed in the GP2, GP3 and GP2 Asia Series. Team history GP2 Series Barwa Addax was formed as a result of Alejandro Agag purchase of the Campos Rac ...

Vitaly Petrov Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov ( rus, Вита́лий Алекса́ндрович Петро́в, p=vʲɪˈtalʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈtrof; born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver who drove in Formula One for Renault F1 ...

would be the team's second driver alongside

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing and rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test dr ...

for the 2010 season, leaving Grosjean without a Formula One drive for 2010. However, in September 2010, it was confirmed by tyre manufacturer Pirelli that Grosjean would complete a test for the company, in anticipation of their return to supplying tyres to the F1 grid in 2011. Grosjean replaced

Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver. Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams, and in and with BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a race after debuting in Formula One in . Heidfeld curren ...

, who left his testing duties to take up a race seat at Sauber.

Stint outside of Formula One

Sportscars

After leaving Formula One, Grosjean became involved in sportscar racing. In March 2010, Grosjean secured a drive in the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, driving a

Ford GT The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for ...

1 for the Matech Competition team alongside German driver

Thomas Mutsch Thomas Mutsch (born 2 April 1979) is a German racecar driver. His first success was a third place in the 1993 German karting championship. Two years later, in 1995, Mutsch finished second in the Formula Renault 1800. In 1999, Mutsch reached seco ...

. The pairing won the opening Championship Race of the season in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

and added a second victory at

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republi ...

in May to lead the standings after the first three rounds of the season. In June 2010, Grosjean made his debut in the famous Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race, sharing a Ford GT1 with Mutsch and Jonathan Hirschi. After qualifying third in the LMGT1 class, they were forced to retire from the race after 171 laps.

Auto GP

In June 2010, Grosjean made a return to single-seaters, racing for the DAMS team in the third round of the Auto GP season at Spa-Francorchamps. After dominating practice and taking pole position, he won the feature race before finishing second to

Carlos Iaconelli Carlos "Iaco" Iaconelli (born June 26, 1987) is a Brazilian racing car driver. Career He spent much of his early career in karting before moving into single-seaters in 2004, where he competed in both Brazilian Formula Renault and the South Ame ...

in the sprint event. Over the course of the weekend, Grosjean accumulated 18 points out of a possible 19 on offer and took away €80,000 prize money as the event's top points scorer. He went on to win three more races to take the title at Monza 16 points ahead of runner-up

Edoardo Piscopo Edoardo Piscopo (born 4 February 1988) is an Italian racing driver. Career Formula BMW After previously competing in karting, Piscopo began his single seater career in Formula BMW USA in 2005, where despite missing the first rounds he finis ...

Return to GP2

On 20 July 2010, Grosjean announced that he would return to GP2 with the DAMS team. He replaced the then Renault test driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio for the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

round of the championship. He later substituted for D'Ambrosio's injured teammate,

Ho-Pin Tung Ho-Pin Tung (; born December 4, 1982) is a Chinese-Dutch racing driver who races with a Chinese license. Career Born in Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands, Tung started kart racing in the Netherlands in 1997 before graduating to single-seaters. I ...

, from the Belgian round onwards (despite Tung recovering and returning to the series with a different team), finishing 3rd in Belgium and

to take fourteenth place in the drivers' standings, only two positions behind D'Ambrosio. Grosjean returned to GP2 full-time with DAMS for the 2011 GP2 Series and GP2 Asia Series seasons. He took two pole positions and one race victory to win the Asia Series by six points from Jules Bianchi, and also won the first race of the main series to lead that championship as well. He lost the championship lead to

Giedo van der Garde Giedo Gijsbertus Gerrit van der Garde (born 25 April 1985 in Rhenen, Netherlands) is a Dutch racing driver, currently competing in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship for TDS Racing. From 2018 to 2021 he competed in the FIA World Endurance ...

, after the second round of the series, after an event which was hampered by disqualification due to a technical infringement, but regained it again the following week at Monaco, scoring points in both races despite starting from last place on the grid. After scoring four further wins as part of a mid-season run that included six consecutive podium finishes, he pulled clear of his pursuers and clinched the championship at the penultimate round at Spa-Francorchamps.

Return to Formula One

Lotus (2012–2015)

At the start of , Grosjean returned to the newly branded Lotus Renault GP team as one of five test drivers along with Bruno Senna,

Jan Charouz Jan Charouz (born 17 July 1987) is a Czech motor racing driver. He won the 2009 Le Mans Series season and 2006 F3000 International Masters season, as well as taking fourth place in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2010 he was the Renault Form ...

and Fairuz Fauzy. Lotus Renault had planned to run

and

throughout 2011 but Kubica had a horrific rally accident and was unable to drive during 2011. Former

BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Formula Two regulations), before building th ...

teammate

replaced Kubica for the first 11 races before himself being replaced by Senna from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards. In late October 2011, Lotus Renault announced that Grosjean would drive in the first Friday free practice session in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (replacing Senna) and the Brazilian Grand Prix (replacing Petrov). On 9 December 2011, it was announced that Grosjean would make his comeback to Formula One in , taking the second seat at the newly renamed

(formerly Renault, the team that Grosjean raced with in 2009) alongside World Champion Kimi Räikkönen.

2012

At the , Grosjean set the second fastest time in the final free practice session, and while teammate Räikkönen was eliminated in the first part of qualifying, Grosjean made it into the top ten – for the first time, as his previous best was twelfth place – and ultimately qualified in third position. He fell to sixth at the start and retired on the second lap after a collision with Pastor Maldonado, which broke his right-front suspension. At the

he finished third, collecting his first Formula One podium and the first for a French driver since

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

at the

1998 Belgian Grand Prix The 1998 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the LVI Foster's Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 August 1998, at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps; it was the thirteenth race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. The ra ...

. In Spain Grosjean started third, finished fourth and set his first fastest lap in Formula One; the first for a French driver since Alesi at the

1996 Monaco Grand Prix The 1996 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the LIV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco) was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 19 May 1996. It was the sixth race of the 1996 Formula One season. The race was run in very wet weather, and set a r ...

. At the

2012 Canadian Grand Prix The 2012 Canadian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2012) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 10 June 2012 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The 70-lap race was the seventh round of t ...

, he collected his second Formula One podium with a career best finish of second, behind Lewis Hamilton. 2012 British GP - Lotus

At Valencia, Grosjean was running second when the car's electronics malfunctioned forcing Grosjean's first mechanical-related retirement of the season. At the , Grosjean topped the timesheets during the first free practice session, but qualifying did not go as well; at the end of Q2 he spun into the gravel at the final corner after managing to get into Q3, this meant he could not take any further part in qualifying and started from tenth, although he was promoted to ninth after Nico Hülkenberg received a grid penalty. At the start of the race, he was involved in an incident with

, which forced a pit stop for a new front wing. However, Grosjean fought back through the field to finish in sixth just behind his teammate. At the , Grosjean started nineteenth due to a gearbox penalty and finished eighteenth after picking up a puncture on lap one. A week later, at the , Grosjean qualified second, the first time a French Formula One driver had started on the front row of the grid since Alesi at the

1999 French Grand Prix The 1999 French Grand Prix (formally the LXXXV Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 June 1999 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Magny-Cours, France. It was the seventh race of the 1999 Formula One seaso ...

; Grosjean finished third in the race behind Hamilton and teammate Räikkönen. 2012 Japanese GP opening lap

At Spa Grosjean caused a multi-car pile-up at the start of the race, with Hamilton,

and Sergio Pérez all eliminated from the race as well as Grosjean; the incident was started when Grosjean drove into Hamilton on the approach to the La Source corner. Grosjean was given a one race ban post-race (the first driver to be banned since

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

in ), as well as a fine of €50,000, with the FIA saying in a statement "The stewards regard this incident as an extremely serious breach of the regulations, which had the potential to cause injury to others. It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race. The stewards note

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

the team conceded the action was an extremely serious mistake and an error of judgement. Neither the team nor the driver made any submission in mitigation of penalty." He was replaced for the

2012 Italian Grand Prix The 2012 Italian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2012) was a Formula One motor race that took place at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy on 9 September 2012. It was the thirteenth race of ...

by Lotus test and reserve driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio. His team boss, Éric Boullier said that Grosjean learned an important lesson following his ban, however at the , Grosjean crashed into Mark Webber at the first corner with Webber branding him a "first lap nutcase". Grosjean's actions were condemned by many drivers in the paddock. At the , Grosjean was involved in another first lap incident. In São Paulo Grosjean hit the back of

Pedro de la Rosa Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...

's HRT in qualifying. On 14–16 December Grosjean won the

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Rally ...

after a Grand Final victory over

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

legend

Tom Kristensen Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967) is a Danish former racing driver. He holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, six of which were consecutive (from 2000 to 2005). In 1997, he won the race with the Joest Racing ...

at the

Rajamangala Stadium The Rajamangala National Stadium ( th, ราชมังคลากีฬาสถาน; , ) is the national stadium of Thailand. It is part of the Hua Mak Sports Complex, and is located in Hua Mak Subdistrict, Bang Kapi, Bangkok. It offici ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

. The day before Grosjean finished in second place in the Nations' Cup event along with his teammate Sébastien Ogier in the French team, after defeat by Germany's Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher. On 17 December 2012, it was confirmed that Grosjean would stay at Lotus for the season.

2013

He had three points-scoring finishes at the three opening races before receiving a new chassis to help his chances at

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an a ...

; he qualified 11th and climbed to third. At the next race in Spain, his suspension failed on lap 9. At the , Grosjean had three crashes during the practice sessions, leading his team principal, Boullier, to tell Grosjean to "wake up". He qualified 13th but his race ended when he crashed into the back of Daniel Ricciardo, earning him a 10-place grid penalty for the next race. At the he started last on the grid due to the grid penalty but ran as high as eighth in the race before finishing 13th as he had to stop for a third time due to heavy tyre wear. On the first lap of the , Grosjean made contact with Mark Webber, damaging the front wing of Webber's car. Grosjean retired on the last lap while in 8th position due to serious front wing damage. At the after qualifying 5th he led the race for a while and seemed to be on a faster pace than Sebastian Vettel but the intervention of the safety car changed the race. He was forced to let his teammate Kimi Räikkönen pass towards the end of the race as Räikkönen had faster tyres. Grosjean resisted

to earn his second podium of the season behind Vettel and Räikkönen. Romain Grosjean 2013 Malaysia FP1

At the Grosjean qualified 3rd on the grid but finished the race in 6th position after receiving a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line as he overtook Felipe Massa. After the race, he was given a further 20-second time penalty for colliding with

, however, this did not affect his final position. At the Grosjean qualified 7th on the grid, and Lotus chose to operate a one-stop strategy on Grosjean's car. Later in the race, he was sent off track by Sergio Pérez while Pérez was attempting an overtake – Pérez received a drive-through penalty for the incident. Grosjean finished the race in 8th position after being overtaken by Massa towards the end of the race. At the Grosjean qualified 13th as both Lotuses showed a slow pace in practice. After a slow pit stop, he came back to finish in 8th after many overtaking moves and resisting Lewis Hamilton on the last lap. In Singapore Grosjean had a difficult weekend full of mechanical problems; and despite qualifying 3rd, he was forced to retire due to an engine issue. At the he qualified 4th and was moved up to third on the grid after a grid penalty for Webber. He made a good start in which he overtook Hamilton and was closing on Vettel until the safety car came out. This intervention aided Räikkönen's progression up the order, and after a small mistake, Grosjean was overtaken by his teammate. Grosjean maintained position behind Räikkönen and secured his third podium of the season, in third. The next weekend, at Suzuka, he qualified 4th. After a poor start by the Red Bulls on the front row, Grosjean took the lead into the first corner and showed a good pace compared to the Red Bulls behind him, leading almost half the race. Vettel passed him on lap 28 and he was also later overtaken by Mark Webber, and finished 3rd for the second straight race. In India, Grosjean failed to reach Q2 on medium tyres to save softer tyres, and he ultimately qualified 17th. In the race, he had a longer first stint with soft tyres to apply a one pit stop strategy that worked perfectly as he finished 3rd behind Vettel and Rosberg after overtaking Massa and then Räikkönen who forced him off the track on his first overtaking attempt. At

, after qualifying 7th (and being promoted to 6th due to teammate Räikkönen's penalty), he had another strong start and strong race, finishing 4th. At the , Grosjean had a good qualifying session and earned the 3rd spot on the grid behind Vettel and Webber. In the race, Grosjean had a strong start once again, by overtaking Webber and nearly overtaking Vettel. Leading a lap during the pit stop phase, Grosjean finished 2nd by holding off Webber despite numerous overtaking attempts. On 29 November 2013, it was confirmed that Grosjean would continue with Lotus in 2014.

2014

A new rule for the 2014 season allowed the drivers to pick a car number to use for their entire career. Grosjean was awarded his first choice of number 8. He explained his choice of number on his Facebook page: "Simply I like this number, plus it has some signification to me. My wife was born on 8 December, we started dating in 2008 and besides, to my eyes my son is the 8th wonder of the world. That's why I picked up number 8." Among all the races in 2014, he was only able to score on two occasions and claim 8 points.

2015

In 2015, Lotus produced a much better car, which was powered by a Mercedes engine. Grosjean showed great potential in testing, but mechanical problems in Australia and a spin after contact with Sergio Pérez in Malaysia prevented Grosjean from scoring points. But after the first two troubled races, Grosjean recorded good performances in China and

, finishing 7th on both occasions. In Spain, Lotus struggled in practice and qualifying and Grosjean missed out on Q3 for the first time in the season. But in the race, his pace improved and he finished 8th, despite making contact with Pastor Maldonado in the opening laps and a mistake in the pits, both of which cost him some time. In Monaco, Grosjean was on for his fourth consecutive points finish, despite a grid penalty for a gearbox change, but he was hit by Max Verstappen while battling for position. Grosjean managed to rejoin, but lost time and finished 12th. In Canada, Lotus had one of the fastest cars and Grosjean qualified in an impressive 5th place. In the race, he was in the top 5 but made contact with the Marussia of

Will Stevens William Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver, who formerly competed in Formula One, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series and the British Formula Renault Championships. In Formula One, he made his debut at the ...

, which punctured his tyre. Grosjean had to pit for new tyres, but managed to recover and finished in the points. In

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

, he was racing in the top 10, but he had a mechanical issue and could not finish the race. In Great Britain, he retired on lap 1 after contact with Daniel Ricciardo and teammate Maldonado. In Hungary, he struggled again and even had a penalty for an unsafe release in the pits. But near the end of the race, he made up a lot of positions due to other drivers having problems. In the end, he managed to repeat his best finish of the season of 7th, finishing ahead of

Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fin ...

's Mercedes. In Belgium, Lotus again had one of the fastest cars and Grosjean qualified in 4th, but started 9th, because of a penalty. In the race, he consistently gained positions, and a few laps before the finish, Grosjean was running 4th. Ahead of him was Vettel, who was on very old tyres, and Grosjean caught up with him with 5 laps to go. He was not able to overtake, but Vettel's right rear tyre exploded on the penultimate lap. Grosjean moved into the podium positions, to record his first such result since 2013. After the race, Grosjean said that he cried on the last lap. In Italy Grosjean once again made it into Q3, qualifying in 8th, but was involved in some contact in turn 1, which caused his retirement. In Singapore, he was forced to retire a few laps before the end because of a suspected gearbox issue. In Japan, Grosjean was in 6th place after the start but lost a position during the first stops to Nico Hülkenberg. Near the end of the race, he was under pressure from Maldonado, who had closed the gap to just over a second, but Grosjean managed to retain his 7th position to the finish and scored points for the first time since Belgium.

Haas F1 Team (2016–2020)

2016

On 29 September 2015, it was announced that Grosjean would race for the Haas F1 Team, who were joining the Formula One grid for the season. He was partnered by former Sauber driver and Ferrari test driver Esteban Gutiérrez. In the team's first race, the , Grosjean finished sixth to record Haas' first points and making them the first team since Toyota Racing to score points in their debut. He was eventually voted Formula One's first Driver of the Day. Grosjean scored again in the following by finishing in fifth position, winning Driver of the Day again. Following

's retirement from full-time racing, the members of the GPDA elected Grosjean to replace Button as one of the directors of the GPDA in May 2017.

2017

Grosjean drove for Haas for the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a se ...

season where he partnered

Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team. He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through M ...

. He had multiple retirements, such as in the

2017 Australian Grand Prix The 2017 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 26 March 2017 in Melbourne. The race was contested over fifty-seven laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix ...

, where he retired due to a water leak. His second retirement came at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix, when he had a collision with

Jolyon Palmer Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British motorsport commentator and columnist, covering the Formula One World Championship on BBC Radio 5 and F1TV. Prior to his media career, Palmer was a racing driver and the 2014 GP2 Series ...

. His third and final retirement of the season was in the

2017 Hungarian Grand Prix The 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Pirelli Magyar Nagydíj 2017) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 30 July 2017 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary. The 2017 event was the 32nd time that the race has been r ...

due to a

wheel nut A lug nut or wheel nut is a fastener, specifically a nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks (lorries), and other large vehicles using rubber tires. Design A lug nut is a nut fastener ...

. He scored 28 points in total from 8 occasions and finished the season 13th.

2018

Haas retained Grosjean for the 2018 season where he again partnered Magnussen. At the

Azerbaijan Grand Prix The Azerbaijan Grand Prix ( az, Azərbaycan Qran Prisi) is a Formula One motor racing event that was held for the first time in . It is held on the Baku City Circuit, a street circuit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The event is due to take ...

, Grosjean crashed behind the safety car whilst running in 6th place. His engineer incorrectly blamed the cause of the crash on Sauber driver

Marcus Ericsson Marcus Thorbjörn Ericsson (; born 2 September 1990) is a Sweden, Swedish professional racing driver. He competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing and is the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner. Ericsson prev ...

, saying, "I think Ericsson hit us." At the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...

, Grosjean was the cause of a crash on the opening lap. Whilst making his way through turn 3, he lost control of his Haas after running through dirty air. This caused him to spin across the track into the path of the cars behind him, causing a large amount of smoke in the process. He was then hit by Hülkenberg and Gasly, eliminating all three from the race. In the

Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in . History The A ...

, Grosjean finished 4th, his best result in his career at Haas, and his first points finish in 2018. Grosjean was disqualified from the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921. In 2013 it ...

after the floor of his car was found to be illegal, taking away a 6th-place finish; although the team appealed this, the decision was upheld. Grosjean finished the season 14th with 37 points.

2019

On 28 September 2018 it was confirmed that Haas would retain Grosjean for the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

season, again partnering Magnussen. Like his 2018 season, Grosjean's 2019 was plagued with reliability issues, poor luck and driver errors. Additionally, the

Haas VF-19 The Haas VF-19 is a Formula One car designed by Italian manufacturer Dallara for the Haas F1 Team to compete in the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, with additional testing wor ...

suffered from poor pace throughout the season, often qualifying well but falling far behind during races. The first two races saw a double retirement for Grosjean. In Australia, a wheel was incorrectly fitted during a pit stop, causing it to come loose on track in an extremely similar incident to his race in Australia the year before. In

he was hit by Lance Stroll on the opening lap, causing terminal damage. An 11th-place finish in China followed, before a third retirement in four races in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

due to a brake failure. Grosjean scored his first point of the season by finishing 10th in Spain, and followed this up with another 10th-place finish in Monaco. Grosjean finished 14th in Canada after a collision in front of him on the first lap sent debris into his car, causing him to lose positions. He then retired from the next race, his home race in France. Another retirement came two races later in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, after contact with teammate Magnussen on the first lap, ending the races of both drivers. Both were blamed and criticised for the incident, at a race in which Grosjean was testing the old spec of the VF-19 so that the team could understand their recent lack of pace. His best—and final—points finish of the season came in Germany, when he crossed the line in 9th place but was promoted to 7th after the

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

drivers were penalised post-race for the use of driver aids. Another retirement came in Hungary due to a hydraulics issue. In Singapore, Grosjean tagged George Russell during an overtake attempt, damaging his front wing and causing the Williams driver to crash into a wall. Grosjean finished the race in 11th. Another retirement followed in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

after a first-lap collision with Daniel Ricciardo and Antonio Giovinazzi sent him into the barriers. In Brazil, Grosjean was running in 7th place late in the race behind Pierre Gasly and ahead of

Carlos Sainz Jr. Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro (; born 1 September 1994), otherwise known as Carlos Sainz Jr. or simply Carlos Sainz, is a Spanish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He is the son of Carlos Sainz Sr., a d ...

, before issues with his car dropped him back to 14th by the finish line (13th after a penalty for Nico Hülkenberg). Gasly and Sainz would go on to finish 2nd and 3rd in the race. Grosjean ended the season in 18th place in the championship with 8 points, his worst full-season in Formula One.

2020

On 19 September 2019, Haas announced that Grosjean would remain with the team for the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

season alongside Magnussen. At the

, Grosjean suffered a serious crash on the first lap in which his

Haas VF-20 The Haas VF-20 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Haas to compete during the 2020 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, who competed for Haas for the fourth consecutive yea ...

hit a barrier at high speed, splitting the car in half, releasing the fuel and making the car burn. The force and angle of the impact caused the driver's compartment and the front half of the car to be wedged into the barrier, while the rear half was separated from the rest of the vehicle, igniting the car immediately upon impact. The impact was measured at . He was able to exit the car unaided, and was helped away from the crash scene by

Alan van der Merwe Alan van der Merwe (born 31 January 1980) is a South African race car driver, entrepreneur and former driver of the Formula One medical car, alongside FIA Medical Delegate Dr. Ian Roberts. Racing career Van der Merwe won the 2001 Formula Fo ...

and Ian Roberts, with minor burn injuries to his hands and ankles before being airlifted to a nearby military hospital. The crash caused a red flag for more than an hour to recover the chassis and repair the damaged barrier section. The halo-head protective device, introduced in Formula One in 2018, was credited with saving his life: it sheltered Grosjean's head and body from coming into contact with the barrier upon collision. Grosjean ultimately missed the last 2 races of the season, and was replaced by

Pietro Fittipaldi Pietro Fittipaldi da Cruz (born 25 June 1996) is a Brazilian-American racing driver, the grandson of two-time Formula One world champion Emerson Fittipaldi and brother of racing driver Enzo Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi is racing in European Le Mans ...

. Grosjean's contract with Haas was not renewed after 2020. He underwent surgery for his injuries on 16 December.

Mercedes test

Grosjean was due to test drive the

Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ The Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ is a Formula One racing car designed and developed by Mercedes-Benz under the direction of James Allison, John Owen, Mike Elliott, Loïc Serra, Ashley Way, Emiliano Giangiulio, Jarrod Murphy, Eric Blandin a ...

, which won the

2019 Formula One World Championship The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars which marked the 70th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the F� ...

, for a full day of testing with the team at the

2021 French Grand Prix The 2021 French Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Emirates Grand Prix de France 2021) was a Formula One motor race which took place on 20 June 2021 at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, Var. The 53-lap race was the seventh rou ...

. The test was delayed due to pandemic related travel restrictions.

IndyCar

From 2021 onward Grosjean chose to compete in the

Dale Coyne Racing (2021)

For

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Grosjean competed on a joint deal between

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known as Payton-Co ...

and

Rick Ware Racing Rick Ware Racing (RWR) is an American motorsports team which currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the NTT IndyCar Series. History The organizational roots of RWR date back to Ware & Sons Racing with ...

with backing from Honda. Grosjean was scheduled to only participate in the street and

road course Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

events in the 2021 season but he later announced after the Indianapolis 500 that he would run the

Bommarito Automotive Group 500 The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline is an IndyCar Series race held at World Wide Technology Raceway. The event was first held as a CART series race from 1997 to 2000, initially on Memorial Day weekend. From 2001 t ...

to get experience racing on ovals for a potential full schedule in 2022. Because his only oval race would be on what IndyCar considers a short oval Haas F1 Team colleague

was signed to replace Grosjean for IndyCar's three races on superspeedways, the double header at Texas Motor Speedway and the

2021 Indianapolis 500 The 2021 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) race in the 2021 IndyCar Series, held on May 30, 2021, at the Indianapolis ...

. Grosjean quickly adapted to IndyCar racing and immediately showed pace. He recorded three podium finishes on the season; two second-place finishes at both rounds on the IMS Road Course and a third-place finish

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to: * Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California * Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London * Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California * Laguna Seca, Texas, United States * Ranch ...

. In addition he made the final round of qualifying at both rounds on the IMS Road Course and Detroit, Nashville, and

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

. The highpoint of Grosjean's season was at the first round at Indianapolis, where after sitting out for two weeks he returned and out qualified fellow rookie Scott McLaughlin , Josef Newgarden, Jack Harvey, Conor Daly, and Alex Palou to earn his first IndyCar pole position and first pole position since May 2011, when he was on pole in GP2 at Istanbul Park with DAMS. He went on to finish in second place behind winner

Rinus VeeKay Rinus van Kalmthout (born 11 September 2000), known professionally as Rinus VeeKay is a Dutch racing driver. He drives the No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing in the IndyCar Series. Career Karting van Kalmthout started karting in 2 ...

. Other highlights included making up ten positions at Laguna Seca, several passes of which he made at the famed "Corkscrew", the location of

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again ...

's iconic pass on Bryan Herta in 1996, and his first ever oval race at Gateway, where he recorded the most overtakes for the race despite finishing fourteenth. Grosjean also recorded top ten finishes at

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

, Road America, and Mid-Ohio. Romain grosjean (51382008822)

Grosjean's arrival to IndyCar coincided with the arrival of three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin and seven-time NASCAR champion

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, t ...

to the series, creating what some pundits dubbed the most intriguing rookie class to American Open Wheel Racing since the arrival of

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series (1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over t ...

to CART in the early 1990s. Many pundits picked Grosjean to have the strongest season of the three due to his extensive open-wheel experience, picking him to be a potential candidate for IndyCar Rookie of the Year despite competing for a team with significantly fewer resources than McLaughlin's Team Penske or Johnson's

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship ...

and not racing a full schedule. While Johnson would be the slowest to adapt to IndyCar racing and would run the fewest events of the three, McLaughlin and Grosjean were frequently measured against each other throughout the season. McLaughlin outperformed Grosjean four times during their rookie seasons; at St. Petersburg where he had made his IndyCar debut the previous year while Grosjean was racing there for the first time, at Grosjean's first-ever oval race at Gateway, and at Portland and Long Beach after Grosjean was caught up in an accident caused by other drivers on the opening laps. Grosjean's performances were so strong that despite his partial schedule he was nearly able to outscore McLaughlin for the Rookie of the Year award heading into the final race at Long Beach. Both Grosjean and McLaughlin downplayed any comparisons between the two, with Grosjean noting that comparing the two's rookie results in IndyCar did not take into account his nearly two decades of open-wheel racing compared to only one year of open-wheel racing experience for McLaughlin.

Andretti Autosport (2022 onwards)

Grosjean drove Andretti Autosport's No. 28 DHL Honda entry in the 2022 season, replacing the outgoing

Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is a professional American racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. In each accomplishment, Hunter-Reay became th ...

. Grosjean underwent his rookie orientation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 5, 2021, and confirmed that he will be racing in the

2022 Indianapolis 500 The 2022 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (804.7 km, 200 lap) race in the 2022 IndyCar Series, held on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at the India ...

along with the entire 2022 schedule. Grosjean picked up his first podium with Andretti Autosport at Long Beach, nearly taking the win from Josef Newgarden before an accident caused by Takuma Sato caused the race to finish under caution. He managed to advance to Q2 in his first Indianapolis 500 but ultimately crashed out of the race. Overall 2022 was a difficult season for Grosjean, as he struggled with bad luck and on track contact with teammates and other drivers.

Personal life

Grosjean married French journalist and television presenter Marion Jollès on 27 June 2012 in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

. They have been together since 2008. On 29 July 2013, Marion gave birth to a son, Sacha. They have a second child named Simon who was born on 16 May 2015 and a daughter named Camille who was born on 31 December 2017. After Grosjean signed with Andretti Autosport and committed to racing full time in the IndyCar series he announced that he and his family would be moving to Miami due to the city's selection of French-language schools and the ability to get direct flights between Miami and Paris.

Other ventures

Grosjean holds endorsements with various brands including Christian Roth (Via DITA Eyewear), Richard Mille,

Bell Sports Bell Sports is an American maker of bicycle and motorcycle helmets. The company is a subsidiary of Vista Outdoor, after BRG Sports –owner of Riddell football helmets– sold some of its brands (including Bell, Giro, C-Preme, and Blackburn) to ...

, and Seier Capital. In 2014 Grosjean was featured in French disc jockey David Guetta's music video titled " Dangerous". In October 2017 Grosjean launched ''Cuisine et Confidences'', a cookbook he authored with his wife. Grosjean also founded R8G eSports, a sim racing team. He also has his own YouTube Channel called Romain Grosjean Official with 255K subscribers which he launched in November 2017.

Racing record

Karting career summary

Racing career summary

† As Grosjean was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. ^* Season still in progress.

Single seater racing results

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Auto GP results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

American open-wheel racing results

IndyCar Series

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Indianapolis 500

Sports car racing results

Complete GT1 World Championship results

(

)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosjean, Romain 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Geneva French racing drivers French Formula One drivers Renault Formula One drivers Lotus F1 Formula One drivers Swiss racing drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault 2.0 Alps drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula Lista Junior drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Formula 3 Euro Series champions British Formula Three Championship drivers GP2 Series drivers GP2 Asia Series champions GP2 Asia Series drivers Auto GP drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers GP2 Series Champions IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Swiss-French people Swiss expatriate sportspeople in France French people of Swiss descent Swiss people of French descent 24 Hours of Spa drivers Haas Formula One drivers Twitch (service) streamers SG Formula drivers Signature Team drivers ART Grand Prix drivers Campos Racing drivers DAMS drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers Andretti Autosport drivers