Grosjean had previously competed in Formula One for nine full seasons with a variety of teams, winning ten podiums, all with Lotus.
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Romain Grosjean has to be one of the most fortunate drivers to have ever raced in Formula One. Not because he has been lucky in terms of race wins or podiums, all of those the Frenchman achieved through his own skill. What he is lucky about is walking away from one of the most dangerous crashes in recent F1 history. Romain Grosjean is a Swiss-French racing driver who currently competes for Andretti Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series for the 2022 IndyCar season. Grosjean had previously competed in Formula One for nine full seasons with a variety of teams, winning ten podiums, all with Lotus.
In the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, he earned his first Formula One podium, and in the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, he set his first fastest lap. At the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, he became the first driver since 1994 to earn a race ban after causing a multi-car pile-up. After breaching a metal guardrail on the opening lap of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, Grosjean’s car split in two and caught fire, although he survived. Grosjean had minor burns but believes the halo saved his life.
At the 2005 Macau Grand Prix, Grosjean made his Formula Three debut, filling in for Loc Duval at Signature-Plus. He started 19th and finished ninth, beating teammates Fabio Carbone and Guillaume Moreau in the process. He competed in the 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series for the entire season, but had a difficult year, finishing 13th with only one podium finish. He started on pole for both races at Pau in a one-off appearance in the British Formula Three Championship, won both, and recorded the fastest lap in each.
Grosjean and Stephen Jelley drove for ART in the first GP2 Asia Series season, winning both races in the first round of the championship. With four race victories and 61 points overall, he went on to win the title. Grosjean has been named Renault’s test driver for 2008, succeeding Nelson Piquet Jr., who has progressed to a racing seat. On the June 7 and 8, 2008, he drove a Formula One car for the first time at the UK round of the 2008 World Series by Renault weekend at Silverstone, where he demonstrated the previous year’s R27 car.
He continued as a test driver for Renault in 2009, but after the Crashgate scandal, he took over Piquet’s seat from the European Grand Prix forward. After news rumours suggested that Grosjean would not hold his seat for the 2010 season, Renault revealed that Vitaly Petrov, Grosjean’s former GP2 teammate at the Addax Team, would be the team’s second driver with Robert Kubica for the 2010 season, leaving Grosjean without a Formula One seat.
The Frenchman made is proper return to the sport again in 2012 with Lotus. That season, he amassed 96 points and finished eighth in the driver’s championship table. The following season, he achieved his best ever finish for the team in the driver’s championship. With 132 points to his name, Grosjean finished seventh in the driver’s championship.
He joined Haas in 2016 and finished P5 in the Bahrain GP, his best ever finish for the team. That season, Grosjean 13th in the driver’s championship after collecting 29 points. The following season he also finished 13th but with a point lesser. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, his Haas career was not one to remember and it ended in a horrifying manner.
Grosjean was involved in a major incident on the opening lap of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, when his Haas VF-20 collided with a barrier at high speed, splitting the car in half, releasing the fuel, and causing the car to fire. The impact’s force and angle wedged the driver’s compartment and the front half of the automobile into the barrier, while the rear half was separated from the rest of the vehicle, igniting the car instantly. With minor burn injuries to his wrists and ankles, he was able to exit the automobile unassisted and was carried away from the crash scene by Alan van der Merwe and Ian Roberts before being taken to a nearby military hospital.
| Races | 181 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 10 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Points | 391 |
Grosjean and his wife Marion Jolles started dating in 2008 and married four years later on June 27, 2012. Marion and Grosjean have three children together, two sons and a daughter: Sacha, born in July 2013, Simon, born in May 2015, and Camille, born in December 2017. In 2017, the couple unexpectedly released a cookbook that they co-authored with the help of several notable chefs.
The Frenchman is reported to have a net worth of USD 16 million. He has driven for Lotus and Haas throughout his career. Although it might not have been memorable one, Grosjean was a loved man on the grid. He achieved 10 podiums with Lotus during his time. The Frenchman was the survivorof a fiery crash at the 2020 Bahrain GP but thankfully escaped with only minor injuries.
