Romain Grosjean will complete a heartwarming comeback to Formula One this weekend when he gets back behind the wheel of a Haas on Friday.
The Frenchman will test drive a 2023 Haas model at Mugello in Italy, five years on from his devastating fireball crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Grosjean, now 39, said he ‘saw death coming’ after his 137mph crash as his car was engulfed in flames.
In one of the worst crashes of this generation, measured at 56G in force, Grosjean said that thinking of his children and Niki Lauda, the three-time world champion who survived a crash in 1976, helped motivate him through a 28-second escape as the world stood still.
Suffering burns on his hands, Grosjean’s F1 career hit an abrupt end but within months he was back racing in IndyCar, in which he is still a reserve driver, while he races in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America.
This weekend the 179-Grand Prix veteran will return to F1 with Haas, with whom he spent five seasons, as he drives their VF-23 in a Testing of Previous Car (TPC) test. He will wear a helmet that his children had designed for him for what was meant to be his swansong GP in Abu Dhabi in 2020.
Romain Grosjean will return to F1 on Friday as he tests an old model for Haas at Mugello
The Frenchman survived a horrific crash in Bahrain in 2020 which left many fearing he was dead
‘I’m incredibly grateful to Gene Haas and to Ayao Komatsu (his old race engineer at Lotus) for inviting me to participate in the TPC at Mugello,’ he said.
‘To say I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car would naturally be an understatement.
‘I really can’t believe it’s been almost five years, but to come back and have this outing with my old team is truly something special.
‘I’m excited to see everyone, I’m sure we’ll spend a bit of time reminiscing about the old days, but I’m also keen to be of use regarding the trackside agenda with the VF-23 – it’s great the team now has the TPC program as part of its on-going development.’
Komatsu, now Haas’ team principal, said: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Romain Grosjean back into a Formula 1 car for the first time in five years but especially proud he’s returning in one of our cars – it’s only fitting.
‘Romain and I have worked together throughout his entire Formula 1 career so this test at Mugello is of particular significance to us both.
‘I’m delighted he embraced the opportunity to come and get back behind the wheel with us, a day that’s going to be made extra special by having so many members of the original crew back together to witness it.
‘It should be a fun day and knowing Romain as I do, I know he’ll want to give it his all as usual – I’d expect nothing less, not least as we’ve talked about making this happen for a long time now.’
His car burst into flames after a 137mph crash at 56G but he escaped after 28 seconds
Grosjean’s Haas car split in two on impact with the barrier, with the section Grosjean was sitting in punching its way out the other side.
The halo device, which had been introduced to protect the cockpit area to some controversy just two years before, saved the Frenchman from hitting his head into the steel barriers when he spun off and his car exploded into flames.
Astonishingly, Grosjean only required bandages to his burned hands. He was also hooked up on monitoring tubes and kept in overnight for observation.
But the fearfulness in the paddock as the drama unfolded was summed up by 1996 world champion Damon Hill, who said: ‘It is a miracle he is alive.’
