Grosjean’s Mercedes F1 test ‘still on the cards’
Romain Grosjean says he and Mercedes are still keen to conduct the test he was offered by the Formula 1 team, which was postponed last year due to travel restrictions
Romain Grosjean says his postponed Mercedes Formula 1 test drive is “still on the cards” after a recent discussion with Toto Wolff.
The IndyCar convert was offered a run in Mercedes’ 2019 W10 car by Wolff, after Grosjean’s F1 career was cut short following an enormous crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2020.
Grosjean was briefly trapped in his Haas and suffered heavy burns in the incident, which led to him missing the last two races of a season that was already due to be his last in F1, as Haas selected a rookie line-up of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin for 2021.
The Mercedes demo test Wolff offered was due to take place during the French Grand Prix weekend in May last year, with a full run coming two days after the race, but a change to that event’s date meant it clashed with the Road America IndyCar round.
Speaking on Monday at IndyCar’s traditional curtain-raising media day, ahead of a season he will start with his new team Andretti Autosport after switching from Dale Coyne Racing, Grosjean spoke positively about his chances of getting in a Mercedes.
“I sent a message to Toto after Abu Dhabi [F1’s season finale in December] – well, I left it a couple of weeks, let a few weeks go by and then I sent a message to Toto and he did reply,” said Grosjean.
“It started, ‘thank you’, and then the last sentence was, ‘we need to get you in that car this year’.
“So yes, it’s still on the cards.
“There were a few things last year that didn’t make it easy.”
Grosjean did not say when any prospective test could take place, though the French Grand Prix weekend is also out of the question for 2022 as it clashes with IndyCar’s round at Iowa.
“But definitely, yes, Mercedes is keen to do it, I am keen to do it even though my neck will be dying because I’ve lost part of the muscle there,” he added.
“You can ask Pato [O’Ward, who spoke of the pain in his neck after testing McLaren’s car recently] what it was like.
“But yes, we still want to do it. And if it happens, great, but the main focus is now trying to win races with Andretti.”
Grosjean finished 15th in the IndyCar championship last year – having missed three oval races in his partial programme – but scored two podiums and also a pole position at the Indianapolis road course.
In 2022 he will contest the full calendar including the Indy 500 for the first time.
