With Romain Grosjean confirmed to be leaving Andretti Autosport with Marcus Ericsson coming in and pretty much taking over Grosjean’s seat in the 28 DHL Honda. It’s time to evaluate the Swiss-born Frenchman’s time in IndyCar.
Grosjean came into the series in 2021 racing with the Dale Coyne Racing squad after leaving Formula 1 after his fireball crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix, he instantly became a fan favourite in the States. You could hear what the fans thought of Grosjean when he claimed pole position at the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis in May and went on to claim his first podium in his rookie season. He then went on to claim a further 2 more podiums in 13 races as he finished 15th in the driver standings with 272 points and that’s with doing only 1 of the 4 ovals on the calendar and this was when the Indy 500 would pay out double points. His qualifying performances were as you expect with Dale Coyne Racing, but Grosjean did have some standout performances getting into the fast 6 at both Indianapolis rounds, Detroit, Nashville, and Long Beach.
At the end of the 2021 season, Grosjean was confirmed to drive for the Andretti Autosport squad taking over the 28 DHL Honda from Ryan Hunter-Reay. There was also another big transition from Grosjean as he decided to take on all the overalls including the daunting Indianapolis 500. Grosjean came agonisingly close to taking his first win in Long Beach fighting with Josef Newgarden before a late race crash involving Takuma Sato prevented him from doing so. Overall, his 2nd season of IndyCar racing was a struggle with some bad luck whilst also having contact with his teammates, especially at the Mid-Ohio race.
2023 started well for Grosjean by claiming the first pole position of the season at St. Petersburg and after a race-long battle with Scott McLaughlin, it came to a painful end for both as they collided and Grosjean ended up in the tyre barrier. At the 2nd race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway crashed with 2 laps to go when he was on for a top 6 finish and registered a P14 finishing whilst always banging wheels with teammate Colton Herta and with Newgarden. After a poor start to the season, Grosjean went on to claim back-to-back podiums at Long Beach and Alabama the latter of which he started on pole for and led 57 of the 90 laps before McLaughlin caught and overtook him after Grosjena’s push to pass seemed to have run empty without the driver switching it on and off.
Then started a run of form that just summed up Andretti Autosport this season, with their competitors (Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, and Arrow McLaren) all taking strides forward Andretti Autosport felt like just stood still. They’ve taken 5 poles but only 2 wins coming from Kyle Kirkwood at Long Beach and Nashville and the longer the season has gone on the more frustration has built especially on from Grosjean’s side of the team.
Everything looked rosy for Grosjean as during the month of May there were paddock rumours of a new contract coming the Frenchman’s way. When asked about how Grosjean has started the season, Michael Andretti was full of praise for how Grosjean had changed from the previous year.
“He’s done a 180-degree turnaround on his approach. He’s just a different person this year. I couldn’t be happier with what Romain has done this year, with his approach and attitude, and it’s shown in his driving as well.”
Since then, something has changed and Grosjean has been struggling more than his teammates whether it was down to a lack of pace or results ending due to crashes. His results don’t make for a good read other than the 2 podiums in the first 4 races, his next-best finish has been a 6th place at Nashville his qualifying though has been a tad bit better. The longer the season has been going the higher the frustration has been from both the driver and the team, which has led to Andretti making the change in the lineup as mentioned earlier bringing in Ericsson.
Overall, when looking back on Grosjean’s 3 years in IndyCar (assuming he doesn’t join another team) it’s one of those careers that promised so much and returned hardly anything. Other than the odd podium and pole position and as much as we can dwell on the negative side of his move to the States, he has opened the sport up to new eyes who would have just watched Formula 1.
What next for Grosjean?
If the paddock rumours are to be believed, then Grosjean won’t be returning for the 2024 season with Andretti Autosport, but it doesn’t mean that his IndyCar career is over. He could easily jump into a seat at another team but having tasted champagne on multiple occasions and claiming pole positions, is a seat at a “back marker” team really going to be an enticing option for Grosjean I would highly doubt it.
Grosjean does have a contract to compete in the World Endurance Championship with the new Lamborghini team competing in the hypercar class taking on the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota, and many more teams. Alongside his WEC commitments, Grosjean will also be driving in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship.
Should Andretti get their wish of being granted a place on the Formula 1 grid, then Romain Grosjean could still be an asset for the team. Should that happen then it would be a win-win as Andretti can have an experienced driver alongside a rookie. It would also allow Grosjean to carry on with his F1 career that sadly ended early after that crash in Bahrain in 2020.
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