Haas welcomes Romain Grosjean back for VF-23 run at Mugello

Romain Grosjean volition instrumentality to a Formula 1 cockpit this Friday, stepping into Haas’s 2023 VF-23 for a peculiar trial astatine Italy’s Mugello circuit. It volition beryllium his archetypal clip driving an F1 car since the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, erstwhile helium miraculously escaped a fireball with insignificant burns aft crashing into a obstruction connected the opening lap. “I’m incredibly grateful to Gene Haas and to Ayao Komatsu for inviting me,” Grosjean said. “To accidental I’m excited to get backmost down the instrumentality of a Formula 1 car would people beryllium an understatement… to travel backmost and person this outing with my aged squad is genuinely thing special.”

The Frenchman was Haas’s archetypal operator signing for its 2016 debut and missed a farewell commencement successful 2020 aft his injuries ruled him retired of the play finale. His longtime contention technologist Ayao Komatsu—now Haas squad principal—will enactment Friday successful his erstwhile role, a motion to their years together. “I’m perfectly thrilled to beryllium welcoming Romain back… it’s lone fitting,” Komatsu said. “Knowing Romain arsenic I do, I cognize he’ll privation to springiness it his each arsenic usual.”

A time for memories—and caller mileage

Grosjean said helium volition yet tally the helmet his children designed for what was meant to beryllium his past expansive prix. The trial falls nether F1’s Testing of Previous Cars rules, which let teams to tally machinery from caller seasons connected FIA-approved tracks specified arsenic Mugello. Haas volition besides tract six-time IndyCar contention victor and erstwhile Indy 500 polesitter James Hinchcliffe, who volition illustration an F1 car for the archetypal time.

The outing offers closure arsenic good arsenic celebration. Grosjean near F1 aft 2020, moved to IndyCar, and became a awesome of resilience pursuing Bahrain—the sport’s astir harrowing mishap successful caller memory. Friday’s laps bash not alteration the grounds book, nevertheless they reconstruct thing personal: the elemental enactment of climbing backmost successful and switching everything connected with the squad that helped motorboat his last F1 chapter.