Romain Grosjean Enjoying New Life and New Home in IndyCar
By Michael Eubanks
It’s been 11 years since Romain Grosjean last won a professional auto race.
This year, he looks to reach Victory Lane once again.
The 35-year-old Swiss-French driver will drive one of the most competitive rides of his career this season, and race in one of the most prestigious races in the world.
Grosjean came to IndyCar last season after nearly a decade in Formula One. Driving for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, he found immediate success, winning a pole and collecting three podiums for the relatively underfunded team.
Now, Grosjean finds himself driving for one of IndyCar’s powerhouse teams. He’ll be piloting the No. 28 DHL Honda for Andretti Autosport this year, replacing Ryan Hunter-Reay, whose contract with the team was not renewed at the end of the 2021 season.
Romain Grosjean easily passed his Indianapolis 500 rookie orientation program back in October. Photo: IndyCar.
With a new team comes new expectations, and Grosjean is well aware that he is expected to be one of the top drivers this season.
“Obviously now moving to Andretti there is definitely a big expectation of trying to get some wins,” Grosjean said.
Despite moving to a new and much larger team, Grosjean said that there weren’t many cultural differences between Coyne and Andretti and he already feels comfortable at his new organization.
“I think both cases [between Coyne and Andretti] you've got bosses that are passionate about racing. They love racing, and you can tell,” Grosjean said. “I think when the boss of the team loves racing, is passionate about it, he's going to bring that to everyone underneath.
“In that aspect, I feel like both teams are similar. They're not the same size obviously, but the feeling in the team and the atmosphere, in both cases people are happy to go to the racetrack and that's nice to see.”
After skipping a few oval rounds in his “rookie” season last year, Grosjean will contest all 17 races in the 2022 IndyCar schedule - including the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500.
“The Indy 500, I've come to the circuit a few times and always was amazed by the energy that comes from the Speedway,” Grosjean said. “I think you need to see it to realize it. It's one of those things, you cannot imagine what 350,000 spectators looking forward to seeing a race feels like.”
Despite racing in Europe for the majority of his career, Grosjean has already found a new home in America. His Formula One career may have ended under frightening circumstances – when he was seriously injured in a late-season race crash and ensuing fire – but the now-recovered Grosjean has been enjoying every second of his life since coming to IndyCar.
“I think if I look at the past year, it's an incredible journey from fire to racing for one of the biggest names in motorsports,” Grosjean said. “I'm grateful for the opportunity I have. Every day I remind myself how lucky I am to be alive, how lucky that I came to IndyCar and realized that it's a place where I can be super happy.”
Michael Eubanks covers IndyCar and other racing series for Auto Racing Digest. Follow him on Twitter @MEubanks_Writer and follow Auto Racing Digest on Twitter @AutoRaceDigest