Romain Grosjean has unveiled the special helmet design for his return to a Formula 1 car as he takes part in a testing of previous cars run with his former team, Haas.
The Franco-Swiss driver shared that he would be wearing the helmet that was meant to be for his final grand prix in 2020 in Abu Dhabi, had he been able to race.
“This is the helmet that I was supposed to wear in my last Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi in 2020. Obviously that did not happen. But here we are in Mugello, but five years later, helmet is still here.
“We’ve updated it with the new stickers and sponsors of the MoneyGram Haas F1 team, but I’m glad to wear it. And it’s quite funny to see the drawings from my kids from five years ago. They’ve grown up, I think they would do slightly differently, but I’m very proud to be wearing that helmet in the Haas F1 car and excited to get to do some laps in a Formula 1 car.”
Grosjean suffered a horrific first-lap crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix when his Haas F1 car smashed through the barrier and burst into flames. Amazingly, Grosjean walked away from the incident with burns to his hands and legs.
After recovering from the crash, Grosjean moved to the IndyCar Series in 2021, racing for Dale Coyne before moving to Andretti for 2022 and 2023 and finally to Juncos Hollinger in 2024. He currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Lamborghini and is the reserve driver for Prema in the IndyCar Series.
“Well, back in a Formula 1 car five years later with Haas. Thanks to Gene [Haas] and Ayao [Komatsu], who made it possible,” Grosjean said.
“Mugello is one of my favourite race tracks in the world, so I’m very excited about it. I think I still remember all of the buttons on the steering wheel. But there’s of course a lot of emotion going into it. The last time I sat in a Formula 1 car was not a pleasant experience, but here we are and I can’t wait.
“We’ve got a lot of the team members to come, there’s a lot of team members that were here on day one in 2016, when we got to Australia, scored first points. Of course, there’s Ayao, Dom, Rob-Dob, Pup, I’m going to name a lot, but I’m just excited, thankful, and can’t wait to get back in a Formula 1 car and actually enjoy what the new ones are like – the 2023 that I’ve never been able to drive.”
The former F1 driver joined Haas on its debut in the championship in 2016 after driving for Lotus from 2012 to 2015.
