MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Formula One veteran Romain Grosjean will try his hand at Indy car racing this season.
Grosjean, who has 180 Formula One starts to his credit will compete in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 51 Indy car fielded by Dale Coyne Racing with RWR (Rick Ware Racing).
Grosjean is scheduled to compete in all of the road and street course events for the team after completing a nine-year Formula One career, which included the last few seasons with the U.S.-based Haas F1 operation.
Grosjean was presented with different opportunities as he mulled over his next career move. Ultimately, the Frenchman decided on Indy car racing.
“I’m very excited for this opportunity to race in the United States in the NTT IndyCar Series,” expressed the 34-year-old Grosjean. “I had different options in front of me for this coming season and choosing to go Indy car racing was definitively my favorite one. Although, I’m not ready yet to take on the ovals. IndyCar has a much more level playing field than what I have been used to in my career so far. It will be exciting to challenge for podiums and wins again. My left hand is still healing, but we are just about ready to get back into the race car and to start this next chapter of my career.”
Grosjean suffered significant burns to both of his hands in a late-season crash in Bahrain that ended his F-1 campaign early.
Grosjean scored 10 podium finishes over the course of his F-1 career which included two -lace finishes.
“We’ve been talking to Romain for some time now, even before his accident at Bahrain,” said team owner Dale Coyne. “He has shown interest in the NTT IndyCar Series for the past several months and we’re very happy that he has chosen to pursue his career with us and excited to welcome a driver with his pedigree to America, the series and our team. We feel that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the series.”
“We’re thrilled to be entering our first full season of NTT IndyCar Series racing with Dale Coyne Racing, and to have a driver of the caliber of Romain Grosjean to run the street and road courses makes it that much more exciting for us,” said co-entrant Rick Ware. “We’re looking forward to this season.”