The 39-year old Frenchman previously drove for Renault, Lotus and Haas, garnering a reputation for being fast but accident prone. He left the sport at the end of the 2020 season, which ended in a ball of fire as he survived one of the worst crashes in F1’s recent memory, being stuck inside a burning car for almost 30 seconds. Since then, he has been driving across the pond in the IndyCar series, racking up a few podiums before leaving at the end of 2024 for the World Endurance Championship. There, his performance has been more impressive, largely outperforming the unreliable Lamborghini SC63 he has been driving.
His return has been in the form of a test for Haas, driving their 2023 machine around Mugello Circuit in Italy, the test track of Scuderia Ferrari. We don’t know his lap times, but both he and team boss Ayao Komatsu were happy with the results. Haas has firmly established itself as the underdogs of Formula One, being the sport’s newest team and running on a much lower budget than many of their rivals. Grosjean’s stint at the team was mixed, occasionally taking home results far greater than what was expected of the car, but more often than not was seen clashing with his teammate and causing hefty repair bills for a team often short of funding. In recent seasons, however, under Komatsu’s stewardship, they have found slightly more consistency in their performance.
So what does this mean for the Frenchman? Well, a full time return to F1 is unlikely. 39 is very old for an F1 driver, and his years out haven’t exactly set the world on fire (no pun intended). However, it can’t be ruled out, and if nothing else this test is a better send off from Formula One than nearly burning to death.