On the occasion of the broadcast of the documentary “Romain Grosjean: Road Trip”, on the new IndyCar career of the ex-F1 driver, we spoke with Antoine Arlot who explains the genesis of this report.
Broadcast this Sunday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. on CANAL + DÉCALÉ and directed by Antoine Arlot, this forty-minute documentary retraces Romain Grosjean’s first steps in the IndyCar Series paddock and accompanies him throughout his season. 2021.
Romain Grosjean, adopted by American fans
Was it obvious to make this documentary on Romain’s first season in IndyCar?
The idea came from Thomas Sénécal (deputy director of sports writing for Canal +), and it was logical to do that after the previous documentary dedicated to his terrible accident. In a way it’s the second part, we followed him all his 2021 season in his new life as a pilot, and we see that he is another man, his pilot career did not end and he lives now some pretty incredible moments.
What were Romain Grosjean’s first impressions in the paddock?
Romain’s first words, which he says in the documentary and it is quite striking, is that he was wondering how to go about his first laps of the wheels. And in case it didn’t go the way he wanted, he could give up and go home. It was quite clear as an opinion, these are the words he said to me and which marked me.
He made a good first qualifying for Barber, did that help him in his further training in IndyCar?
Yes, clearly I think it’s a trigger! From the end of qualifying, its engineer Olivier Boisson knows that we will talk about them and that they managed to do something good for their first qualifying session and that they stood out. He arrived in the paddock with a lot of uncertainties, and finally he was reassured and it was the best way to start his season.
He made an impression that day, but he too understood something. Then his first race went well and he finished in the Top 10, a good first result. That day, all the pressure he had was gone, he says in the documentary that when he left he cried a little with emotions. And from there, he knew he had made the right choice.
Did his first pole at Indianapolis and his first podium already mean that his season was successful?
Yes, because for him it is his best memory of the season, it is his pole position in Indianapolis. This is only his third race meeting, with a team that hadn’t taken pole position since 2018.
Pole position is something that had escaped him in his F1 career, so it was a very strong moment, the whole team is behind him to push him, a lot of pilots from the paddock came to congratulate him. is something that we see less in F1. This is the strongest moment of his season, he’s the one who says it, he manages to do it in his third race. And it’s stronger than all his other podiums, it’s really a consecration.
He took on two challenges in 2021, acclimating to driving in IndyCar and making his first oval, how did he convince himself?
Romain has always had a very strong mind, but it was difficult to perceive it during his last years in F1, obviously. The car was not easy to drive, the good results were no longer there, it was difficult to perceive that. Its image suffered a bit in F1, but the IndyCar gave it new impetus.
His participation for his first oval, it became obvious when he received lots of messages from the pilots in the paddock, and it is Marion who tells it in the documentary. All the pilots asked him to come and do the ovals, and he ended up asking Dale Coyne to ride at Gateway! And this is where we see that Romain has integrated well into the discipline, at that time he was no longer thinking about the accident, the fears had dissipated, otherwise, he would never have done it. .
We see an incredible popularity for Romain in the USA, he managed to be the pilot he wanted to be?
It’s amazing to see his popularity in the US, fans accepted him at first as a phoenix, the one who had survived this terrible accident like a hero. Then, over the course of his season, his popularity grew thanks to his results. He is the one who went on to win the hearts of IndyCar Series fans.
But this popularity also gives him strength. And in the documentary, he says that this new closeness to the fans is something he loves and the discipline allows that too, more than F1, that’s for sure.
In the season review, do his good performances in IndyCar redeem his difficult years in F1?
It’s like a new life for him, but besides he sums it up well in the documentary, his accident in Bahrain is positive after all. He is happier today, it’s pretty clear, less than a year after his accident, he continues his career as a driver, even outside the F1 sphere which is very complicated, because we are leaving the elite. But he discovered that a sports career exists after F1 and besides he does not express the desire to return there.
The rest will take place at Andretti’s, isn’t there a new pressure?
The apprenticeship is now over with his small team Dale Coyne Racing and he has signed with Andretti Autosport, one of the most prestigious teams in the IndyCar Series, so there will be new challenges. There will be the sporting stake, it is to be a contender for the title, it is certain, he will participate in all the races of the season. Will he already be a title candidate next year, we’ll see, but he will have one of the best structures to do so, which had not happened to him so much in F1.
The other stake will be in the continuity of his good performances seen this season. Its integration was almost easy or helped by the team, because Dale Coyne Racing is a small structure, but they really opened all the doors, there was not a lot of solicitation with the press officers. was easy to work with them.
Even though the Andretti structure is bigger and he will be in more demand, I don’t think Romain is putting so much pressure on himself. He doesn’t want to put such pressure on himself anymore, this year it went well being relaxed, so he will continue like this. And then, next year, the whole family will move to the USA, so it will be even easier to start the season, there will be less constraints, less worries.
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