Romain Grosjean abandoned Formula 1 at the end of the 2020 World Cup, after the contract with Haas ended, but a chilling accident in the penultimate round of the season in Sakhir, Bahrain, prevented the Frenchman from participating in the last stage of the season, at Yas Abu Dhabi Marina. Mercedes-AMG then promised him the most memorable farewell to the championship and to honor a sporting career that continues in North America, at the IndyCar, after 11 seasons and 183 races in the premier category of motor sports.
The seven times world champions, it was learned today, intend to fulfill their promise in France, on the weekend of round nine of the 2021 championship – the race will take place on 27 June. And at Le Castellet, on the Paul Ricard circuit, Grosjean will perform a few laps on display at the controls of the W10 EQ Power + with which Lewis Hamilton won the 2019 title! Recently, the 35-year-old Frenchman passed by Mercedes-AMG headquarters in Brackley, England, to prepare the seat of the single-seater, which has to be custom-made and also worked on the German team simulator, to adapt to the W10, which is not the same as the Haas that Grosjean drove from 2016 to 2020, after stints at Renault (2009) and Lotus (2011-2015).
«I am very moved. Being able to drive the champion Mercedes is a special opportunity that I thank the team and Toto Wolff [diretor da escuderia]… I was told about this when I was still in a hospital bed in Bahrain and the news cheered me up! Formula 1 did not compete in France last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the Paul Ricard experience will become even more exciting. »
«The idea came to us when we realized that Romain could end his Formula 1 career like that! We want you to have the memory of driving a champion car and not an accident that reminds everyone of both the dangers of our sport and everything that we have contributed to improving safety », commented the Austrian director of the German team. Finally, Lewis Hamilton, who said he prayed for the Frenchman in Bahrain, was happy to meet Grosjean in France and asked him to “drive my W10 carefully!”
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