In an exclusive interview with The Race, Romain Grosjean admits it is “incredible” that top IndyCar teams are interested in signing him for 2022, but hasn’t ruled out staying at current team Dale Coyne for IndyCar next year.
After his fiery Bahrain Formula 1 crash last year, Grosjean scaled back from a planned full-time IndyCar deal to a road and street course only calendar with Coyne in 2021, and scored a pole position in only his third start.
Naturally his performances in the first half of the season have attracted interest from other IndyCar teams, with the struggling Andretti Autosport team understood to be the most likely destination should Grosjean move away from his current squad.
“Obviously yes, the first half of the season went really well and it’s been great to live that and it’s been also nice to see that there’s a lot of interest from the teams around me,” Grosjean told The Race IndyCar Podcast.
“When you’ve been fighting for the last position for a few years, it’s just great to be able to be back and have that appetite from the top teams to come and have you.
“So that’s been incredible.
“I’m also having a really good time at Dale Coyne Racing. Dale is an incredible racer. I think he’s brought some really good talent to IndyCar, he’s got a good nose to find the guys that could do well.
“When I talked to him the first time he wasn’t so interested about my Formula 1 career, he was more interested about my Formula 3 and Formula 2 – or GP2 at that time – what I’ve done there, because he’s like, ‘those are the same car for everyone’.
“’I know, they’re similar to an IndyCar, I know what you can do there’. And then obviously, Formula 1 is great and it’s incredible to be there. But if you don’t have the right car, there’s just nothing you can do.
“So yeah, there’s a few discussions, nothing is written in stone yet. So wait and see.
“And then once things start to unfold, then that’s where we’re going to have the conversation with my wife and say, ‘look, this is the opportunity I have, the car I’ll be in, can I win a championship or not in there? And if so, are we happy for me to do the full season?’”
Andretti could offer Grosjean sportscar appearances to sweeten its offer to him, while Honda – engine supplier to both Coyne and Andretti – is known to be impressed by his performances in IndyCar. It could also potentially play a role in where Grosjean decides to sign in 2022.
Grosjean has spent a lot of time at Indianapolis during his stays in America, and the event’s 500-mile race will be a big factor in Grosjean’s decision too.
Teams and manufacturers would no doubt find him a more attractive proposition if he agrees to take on the 500 in 2022, especially as it would help to secure sponsorship.
However, he hasn’t made a final decision on whether he’ll contest ovals next year ahead of his debut at Gateway next month.
He tested there for the first time last week, in front of his wife and children, who are a big part of his decision whether to go full-time next year.
The 35-year-old said he has undergone a “complete reverse” and now he is “loving motorsports as I used to” following the sour turn his F1 tenure took.
But he added that it was hard spending time away from his family for large chunks of this season and that moving them to the US is key for his 2022 plans.
“I’ve enjoyed my time in IndyCar, I’ll be looking at doing more of it and I’ve won every championship that I competed in apart from Formula 1, so I would love to have that one on my wall at home and to do that, you need to do all the races,” adds Grosjean, when asked whether the motivation for testing on an oval was for his own enjoyment or a precursor to a full-time deal.
“So nothing is set in stone right now but obviously there is a certain appetite for me to race the full season and try to win the championship.
“Relocating the family, having the chance to be in a car that can win a championship and then obviously having that conversation with all the family and say ‘look guys, are we OK to do it?’
“From what I heard, there’s going to be two speedways next year, maybe a touch more ovals but short track[s].
“So, I’m not saying no, I’m not saying yes, I’m just just saying that we need to see what are the opportunities and can we make it happen with my family and from there, go for it.”
Grosjean enjoyed his test at Gateway – despite feeling dizzy after his first run and fighting with his headrest to get comfortable in the car – but reckons road courses are still his favourite discipline and that he has some things to learn before he is likely to be fully competitive on an oval track.
He joined The Race IndyCar Podcast ahead of the Nashville round, where he feels he is “not at a disadvantage” coming to a brand new track for all the drivers in the series, but street tracks have arguably been the weakest part of the Coyne package for 2021.
Over four road course races Grosjean’s average finish is sixth, while over three street course races that average plummets to 20th.
He pointed to the dampers being an area that Coyne doesn’t have the resource to develop like some of the other teams that have more spending power at their disposal.
“We’ve made some big set-up changes from St Pete to Detroit and Detroit one to Detroit two,” Grosjean adds.
“And I think where we ended up in the second race in Detroit was a good baseline. Couldn’t show the speed sadly in the race but quali was OK. And then in race two, I think we had a good car.
“So I’m hopeful that our baseline is good.
“Obviously, one thing in IndyCar that is the key element is the dampers. It is where you’ve got the freedom to develop as much as you want.
“And that’s probably why I feel like a smaller team has got less resource to develop those dampers, which is totally normal.
“So we don’t get lost with crazy technology or improvement, but on the other way, I feel like sometimes when it’s very bumpy or it’s poor grip, or it needs a little bit of help from there, we’re maybe not as strong as some other teams.
“Saying that we’ve been on a shaker [a rig with hydraulics that the car rests on and which simulates bumps and elevation changes] since Detroit.
“Olivier [Boisson, engineer] found a little bit of performance. So hopefully that’s going to be good in Nashville.”
Grosjean goes into more detail on these topics in this week’s episode of The Race IndyCar Podcast, which is available on all major podcast platforms.
He discusses his current road trip with his family in their RV christened Raoul, the challenges of driving on an oval for the first time, maintaining self-confidence through his F1 struggles and what he expects from this weekend’s new event in downtown Nashville.
