Romain Grosjean brought home his Dale Coyne Racing # 51 IndyCar in second place at the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday night, silencing his own doubts after 10 uncompetitive years in F1.
Grosjean left Formula 1 at the end of last year. His time at Haas was interrupted by a terrible, fiery fall at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Frenchman had burns on his hands and was unable to compete in the final two races of the championship before switching to IndyCar.
He left Formula 1 after nine and a half racing seasons without wins, 10 podiums and only 10 points in his last two seasons.
At Dale Coyne Racing at IndyCar, he finished P10 on his debut and P13 in his second race before skipping the Texas oval races.
When he returned to the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis street circuit, he qualified for pole position before finishing with a P2 on Saturday night. Rinus Veekay won by 4.9 seconds.
“Well, it feels like the good old days when I loved winning races,” Grosjean told RACER.
“If you don’t have a good car in Formula 1, it beats you a bit and yes, you lose a bit of self-confidence. You don’t know if it’s you or the car and sometimes you wonder, but there were good people around me who reminded me of what I was capable of.
“I came here as a challenge in IndyCar and every decision also means that it is a risk. But I came in and said, “Look, I want to see what I’m capable of. I think I still have it. I can do good ‘.
“Yes, this weekend proved they were right. Barber has already given me a lot of confidence. St. Pete was a little less competitive. But we were definitely there this weekend. “
Congratulations to our friend @RGrosjean on his first podium in IndyCar in just his third race 
He finished second at the GMR Grand Prix in Indianapolis 
pic.twitter.com/9Ipy2Hh9LB
– Haas F1 Team (@ HaasF1Team) May 15, 2021
He added: “Formula 1 has been an incredible part of my life and I have no regrets about it, but in the end I obviously decided to quit because I wanted to fight for victories.
“I knew this was an option that we could be competitive with and fight for positions here and that was the motivation that I had.
“After 10 years in Formula 1, it was easy for people to say, ‘Oh, this is a bad driver’. But I am here, I enjoy my time and do my best.
“This weekend we showed the team that they know what to do with a good car and I know how to drive it.”
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