It was one of the most anticipated rumors, the worst kept secret on the grill, a fact in the absence of confirmation … Everyone knew that Romain Grosjean’s future in IndyCar was going through an addition to Andretti Autosport, one of the most important teams on the grid, and that fact was made official this Friday. After arousing passions and sympathies in his first season in American competition, the 35-year-old Frenchman will be one of four full-time drivers in the Michael Andretti-owned line-up, being the substitute for Ryan Hunter-Reay in car # 28.
His confirmation also implies that Grosjean will carry out his Indianapolis 500 debut, which he did not contest this season by adopting a program focused on circuit racing. He will do so at the wheel of a vehicle that will retain the sponsorship of an entire global company like DHL, which had sponsored Hunter-Reay since 2011. He will have two established race winners as teammates. Colton Herta and Alexander Rossiwhile the Canadian rookie Devlin DeFrancesco he will be announced in the coming weeks as occupant of the fourth car in place of his compatriot James Hinchcliffe.
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After nine full seasons in Formula 1, adding 10 podiums in 179 races, Grosjean started a new IndyCar adventure this year in Dale Coyne Racing’s car # 51 in association with Rick Ware Racing, a modest NASCAR formation. After his terrible accident in Bahrain the previous year, Grosjean initially limited his experience to playing all 12 circuit races on the calendar, avoiding competing in oval races as a precaution, but the former Renault, Lotus and Haas driver You have had a competitive and vital experience so far beyond your expectations that you have changed your mind.
In his third race in the category, Grosjean earned pole position for the Indianapolis Grand Prix, in which he finished second behind Rinus VeeKay. Several months later, in a second race on the same track (Brickyard Grand Prix), he repeated second place after Will Power, and last week at Laguna Seca he gave an overtaking recital to go from 13th place on the grid to third place on the podium. being Coyne’s first driver to earn three podiums in a single season since Justin Wilson in 2013.
Altogether, Grosjean has been the ninth driver with the most points on the track in 2021 with the final round remaining in Long Beach, and his performance has allowed him to stay in the fight for rookie of the year, 20 points behind Scott McLaughlin, despite missing three races, including an Indy 500 in which doubles are delivered. points. It could have been four races that I did not contest, but Grosjean finally wanted to try high speed on the Gateway Oval last month, starting and finishing in 14th position after several worthwhile overtaking and some rookie errors in the discipline.
Grosjean has not been restrained in admitting that this season had fun like never before in IndyCar, both on and off the track, and her entire family will move to the United States this winter from their habitual residence in Switzerland. “It is a great honor to join a team as great as Andretti, a name that everyone knows in motorsport. I hope that we will be very successful together », says the Frenchman in a statement that came out three hours earlier than expected due to a time confusion within the team between the time of the West Coast and the American standard time. Maybe they wanted to announce it as soon as possible …