Mercedes willing to provide Grosjean with farewell F1 test

Mercedes is willing to give Romain Grosjean a test in one of its title-winning cars as a farewell gesture from Formula 1 if he is unable to race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

The Frenchman is currently recovering from burn injuries he sustained in a horrific fiery crash on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix and is targeting a return at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, which is set to be his final F1 race.

Grosjean is determined that his accident will not be the last time he drove an F1 car but said he is not prepared to risk permanent damage to his left hand by driving in Abu Dhabi if he is not fully fit, though he did indicate he wanted to organise a private test if he was unable to race next Sunday.

"I won't risk losing mobility of my left index and left thumb for the rest of my life, just to go to Abu Dhabi," Grosjean said ahead of this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix.

"The story would be beautiful to go to Abu Dhabi. If I don't, I'll call every single F1 team and see if anyone would offer me a private test in January or so, to jump back in the car, and have 10-15 laps to myself.”

Grosjean is out of contract at the end of the year and is unlikely to return to the F1 grid in the near future having been dropped by Haas for the 2021 season.

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said Mercedes would be prepared to organise an opportunity for Grosjean to test for the German manufacturer privately if it was permitted.

About whether Mercedes would be willing to provide Grosjean the opportunity to test one of its F1 cars, Wolff replied: "If we are allowed to do this, and nobody else within his universe of teams that he raced [for] would provide him with such an opportunity, we would do this.”

Such a test outing would likely have to be carried out in at least two-year-old machinery, meaning Grosjean could get behind the wheel of Mercedes’ title-winning W10 it it took place in January next year.