Delay to long-awaited Mercedes F1 test “all my fault”, says Grosjean

After his F1 career had come to an early end in 2020 following his terrifying fireball crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix that tore his car in two and left him with burns to his hands, Mercedes announced they would give Grosjean a chance to drive one of their F1 cars at Paul Ricard in 2021. 

The Frenchman was scheduled to drive Lewis Hamilton’s championship-winning W10 during a demonstration run at the French Grand Prix, which was to be followed up with a special test after the race weekend.

However, last-minute changes to the 2021 F1 calendar meant that the test had to be put on hold. Over two years on and the test still hasn’t been rescheduled - largely down to Grosjean’s full-time commitments in IndyCar. 

Asked if he was still interested in the opportunity, Grosjean told GP Racing: “Yes, absolutely. We haven’t found the time yet – and yes, it’s all my fault.

“It’s not easy though – I’m looking at 30 race weekends next year. You guys complain about 24 in F1 and I have 18 in IndyCar, seven in endurance and five in F1 with Canal+ [as a broadcaster]. So it’s not easy to add a test.”

The 37-year-old also admitted the delay has partly been caused by his desire to try out the latest generation of F1 cars.

“Also, very selfishly, I’m trying to delay it to the point where I can actually test a new generation of cars,” Grosjean said. 

“But yeah, I’m still keen to do it and whenever I see Toto he always confirms that it’s going to happen. Yes, it would be very cool to get back in an F1 car.”