After the Frenchman switched to IndyCar after the sudden end of his F1 career due to a violent fall at the Grand Prix of Bahrain last year, he was supposed to complete two outings with Mercedes in June as part of a special final run in F1 machines.
He was originally supposed to demonstrate a Mercedes W10 at the GP weekend in France on June 25th and 27th before doing a real test at Paul Ricard on June 29th.
However, as part of a calendar shuffle triggered by the cancellation of the Turkish Grand Prix, the French GP was brought forward by a week.
The event now takes place on the same June 20th as the Road America IndyCar round. Grosjean is involved with Dale Coyne Racing for the street and street course events.
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A spokesman for Mercedes has confirmed that the clash means that Grosjean’s demo laps in France can no longer go as originally planned.
However, Mercedes will give him a decent run at Paul Ricard on June 29th.
Romain Grosjean, Mercedes
Photo by: Mercedes GP Petronas Formula 1 Team
Grosjean’s test with Mercedes was part of an offer made by Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff while the former Haas driver was recovering from the burns he had suffered in the accident in the hospital.
Speaking to the Beyond the Grid podcast this week, Grosjean stated, “It was all Toto. You know, when I was in my hospital bed in Bahrain, someone helped me open things on my phone because I was didn’t have any fingers to use.
And then friends said to me, “Oh, Toto says you could take a test in a Mercedes if you can’t make it back to Abu Dhabi.” And I say, ‘Oh, okay, that’s super cool.
“Of course I liked it a lot back then. But I wanted to go back to Abu Dhabi by the day it wouldn’t happen. And then I went home, relaxed a bit, and finally got a call from Mercedes.
“And it says, ‘Okay, here are the dates we could do it, the seat adjustment will be on that date, you could do a little simulator too, and how does that work for you and what are you ready for?” it?’ Damn it, of course I’m ready for this!
He added: “It’s an incredible opportunity. Just for a couple of things. I’m still a Formula 1 fan. I still watch the races. I’ve driven it, but now I’m allowed to drive the 2019 world championship car, that at The End isn’t far off 2020, which is possibly the fastest Formula 1 car ever built.
“And I ride it with no pressure you know, without a test day to do some tests and go through a program and so on. Yeah, we can have a program, but it’s more [like] let’s go and have fun. “
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