How Grosjean is aiming to give something back to F1
Romain Grosjean says with Formula 1 giving him so much he’s eager to return the favour which is why he took a senior role in the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association and outlines how he plans to improve the sport.
Preparing for his seventh full season in F1, Grosjean is hardly recognisable to the young French driver who was described as dangerous and handed a one-race ban in 2012 for his part in the Belgian Grand Prix start pile-up.
Romain Grosjean says with Formula 1 giving him so much he’s eager to return the favour which is why he took a senior role in the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association and outlines how he plans to improve the sport.
Preparing for his seventh full season in F1, Grosjean is hardly recognisable to the young French driver who was described as dangerous and handed a one-race ban in 2012 for his part in the Belgian Grand Prix start pile-up.
Now a senior figure at Haas, the youngest team on the F1 grid gearing up for its third season in the sport, the 31-year-old irks at the suggestion he’s becoming one of the elder members of the grid after the recent exit of Felipe Massa and Jenson Button.
As the fourth-oldest driver on the 2018 F1 grid, Grosjean’s belief is that he’s only halfway through his career at the pinnacle of motorsport which does stand up (Alonso is about to start his 17th F1 campaign with Grosjean beginning his seventh) but he doesn’t shake off the responsibility of being a senior member of an elite group of drivers.
Grosjean stepped up as Button’s replacement as a director of the GPDA alongside Sebastian Vettel and leader Alex Wurz in 2017, an honour he takes great pride in, and feels it is a vital body to give F1 drivers a voice in the sport’s uncertain future.
The French driver became a frequent star in F1’s videos of the driver briefings held with FIA race director Charlie Whiting and feels drivers have a responsibility to help shape the direction of the sport – even if it does cause conflict.
“When Alex asked me if I wanted to do it I said yes and on top of that you’ve got to be voted by the other drivers which was amazing as well,” Grosjean told Crash.net. “It has been a good experience and sometimes I have a very different viewpoint to Seb and Alex so it is very good to have different points of view and not have people who are thinking the same thing which would mean we wouldn’t have any decisions. It is working well.”
Grosjean has relished the role in the GDPA both professionally and personally and while he’ll always hold dreams of becoming F1 world champion the position allows him to fulfil additional goals.
“I took it up because the sport has given me something and I’ve got to give back,” he said. “It has been really good, I’ve been working really closely with Alex and Seb trying to get every driver on board – we’ve achieved that now – and we are working on projects for go-karts, on track and helping with everything we can. It is very interesting.
“One of the main ones has been go-kart safety as they are little kids. I know Alex has been pushing really hard on that one.
“We gave feedback on the Halo and things like that, working as well with the FIA on the Stewards decisions to try and find what is the limit and what is right or wrong – which is very difficult.
“I was in Geneva on February 10th at the FIA Stewards meeting which was very good and really interesting to share with those guys what our point of view is and how we can improve everyone.”
For now Grosjean’s major focus will be Melbourne for the 2018 F1 opener with Haas and looking to replicate his dream debut for the American team back in 2016 with a phenomenal sixth place finish. Reading between the lines of pre-season test pace the youngest F1 team look strong midfield contenders with Grosjean keen to lead the charge both on track for Haas and off it with the GPDA.
