Welcome to IndyCars Big 3, Romain Grosjean.
Months after the Frenchman was revealed to be the hottest free agent in the paddock and the top driver on Michael Andretti’s acquisition list, RACER has learned that Grosjean has finally come to terms with Andretti Autosport. The full-time contract is believed to have been signed while both parties were at the final race at the World Wide Technology Raceway, where Grosjean starred in his oval debut for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing. After the end of the season in September, the 34-year-old will board the No. 28 Honda currently being driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay.
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It was a turbulent year for the ex-Formula 1 driver. After surviving a life-threatening crash with the Heck-End Haas F1 program in November, Grosjean retired from his Grand Prix career and moved to the NTT IndyCar Series by joining another humble team on the Illinois DCRwRWR team signed. Grosjean has exceeded all expectations as an IndyCar newcomer and is well on the way to becoming one of the biggest programs in the series with Andretti’s championship and Indy 500 victories in Indianapolis.
Grosjean will have 21 year old phenomenon and current team points leader Colton Herta and 29 year old Indy winner Alexander Rossi waiting to welcome him as the new seasoned core of Andretti’s redesigned team.
Though unconfirmed, promising Indy Lights talent Devlin DeFrancesco has been consistently positioned as a driver to take over the number 29 from Honda, currently driven by serial veteran James Hinchcliffe. Like Hunter-Reay, Hinchcliffe is unlikely to stay with Andretti Autosport beyond 2021. Hunter-Reay confirmed two weeks ago that his future lies elsewhere.
To confirm the signing of Grosjean, an Andretti spokesman told RACER: “We are having ongoing discussions to finalize our next driver line-up.”
The post Grosjean set for Andretti Autosport move in 2022 first appeared on monter-une-startup.
