Romain Grosjean made an emotional return to Haas Formula 1 machinery on Friday at Mugello, nearly five years after his fiery 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix crash. The French-Swiss driver drove the Haas VF-23 during a wet test session that reunited him with familiar faces from his five-year stint at the MoneyGram Haas F1 team.
The test marked the first time Grosjean had been in an F1 car since the incident that ended his career in the championship. That accident left him with severe burns on both his hands, but it left him with the name of ‘The Phoenix’ as he survived the life-threatening crash.
Returning to the cockpit
Despite leaving Formula 1 in 2020, Grosjean has continued his racing career in the United States. From 2021 to 2024, he competed full-time in IndyCar and is currently serving as a reserve driver for Prema Racing while also racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America.
In Mugello, Grosjean finally got to wear a special helmet designed by his kids, which was originally meant for Abu Dhabi 2020. He said, “Five years after Bahrain, here we are at Mugello. Big thanks to the MoneyGram Haas F1 team. It was a special day, of course, Gene Haas, Ayao Komatsu, they made it happen. I drove the car.”
He added, “It was a wet day, but as we say, it was a rainy wedding, a happy wedding. So it was a rainy day, happy day, fantastic.”
Standing starts and familiar faces
Grosjean admitted he felt a bit rusty at first, but quickly regained his rhythm: “Just felt a bit rusty at first and then everything came back. I even got to do a standing start and guess what, my last standing start was Bahrain 2020.”
He also emphasized the emotional significance of reuniting with old colleagues. Many of the original Haas crew who worked with him from his debut season in 2016 were present during the test. “So this time it turned out way better and very grateful, very unique opportunity getting to see some of the people that were in Australia 2016 and get to drive the new generation of cars. So it was fantastic and again, I’m very, very grateful. There’s just no other words.”
Haas’s current F1 drivers, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, were also present at the test.
An emotional ending
The day concluded with a touching moment for Grosjean. As he returned to the pits for his final in-lap, the Haas team, team principal Ayao Komatsu, Ocon, Bearman, and Ferrari boss Fred Vassuer, who was present for Ferrari’s Pirelli tyre test, applauded him. “They made me cry at the end of the day. I kept my visor down, but for my last in-lap, everyone from Ferrari, Red Bull, Pirelli, and of course MoneyGram Haas F1 team was here clapping and giving me like an ovation,” he said.
“That’s something I was expecting in Abu Dhabi 2020, but I think it was even better today.”
