Grosjean completes seat fit with his IndyCar team, plans Mercedes farewell run

Ahead of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season, former F1 driver Romain Grosjean travelled to the U.S. to complete his seat fit with his new racing squad, the Dale Coyne team.

The Swiss-born French driver left Formula One after his former outfit, the Haas F1 team had decided to field a fresh driver line-up with Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. Since Grosjean was unable to find another seat, the American team’s decision meant that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was expected to bring the Frenchman’s F1 career to an end.

However, he endured a dramatic crash during the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix when his car separated in two and caught fire after penetrating a metal guardrail on the first lap. Although Grosjean was able to climb out from his car, escaping through huge flames, he was sustained injuries to his hands and ankles.

As Grosjean has often demonstrated his excellent skills behind the wheel, the American premier open-wheel racing competition, the IndyCar series quickly showed interested in Grosjean’s services.

On February 3, the 10-time F1 podium scorer confirmed that he would race in the IndyCar Series with Dale Coyne Racing in 2021. However, he is only scheduled to participate in the street and road course events in the 2021 season, but not in any oval races.

Grosjean has recovered from his horrific accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, but he still has burn scars on his hands and he also needs to improve his fitness for the new season.

The Frenchman, however, has completed an important task before joining the IndyCar series as he travelled to America in order to perform a seat fit with his Dale Coyne Racing team. His first race will be the season-opening event that is set to take place at Barber Motorsports Park on April 18.

Following the Geneva-born driver’s accident at Sakhir, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff promised that the Anglo-German team would offer Grosjean a test opportunity with a former Mercedes F1 car in order to give the Frenchman the chance to say farewell to his Formula One career.

Speaking on his twich account, Grosjean said that he had been in contact with the Austrian to discuss the details.

“Yes, yes he has. I’ve had a phone call with them and we are finalising the plan. I think it’s going to be mega," he said.