Tag: Romain Grosjean

Rain turns fortunes upside down for bulk of IndyCar field in Toronto

The driver leading the NTT IndyCar Series championship who’s had a nearly perfect season lines up 15th. The driver closest to him (Alex Palou), Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, who goes into Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto race holding second …

The driver leading the NTT IndyCar Series championship who’s had a nearly perfect season lines up 15th. The driver closest to him (Alex Palou), Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, who goes into Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto race holding second in the championship, starts seventh.

Josef Newgarden, the driver sitting third in the standings, will take the green flag from 11th on the grid, and you’ll have to look to fourth in points to find the first title contender who didn’t have a rough day in qualifying on the slippery street circuit — Marcus Ericsson on the second row in P4.

Colton Herta, last year’s Honda Indy Toronto polesitter and the polesitter for the last two NTT IndyCar Series races, had intentions to earn another, but was a big surprise in his failure to transfer into the Firestone Fast 12. The Andretti Autosport driver, fastest in the session prior to qualifying, wasn’t alone.

Beasts in the dry, Herta’s frustrating run to 14th was compounded by Kyle Kirkwood—fastest on Friday—who lines up eighth and Romain Grosjean who settled for ninth.

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The greatest surprise, though, was the aforementioned Palou, whose worst start of the year prior to Toronto was seventh. To the Spaniard’s credit, he was in worse shape last year in Canada when he started 22nd and rocketed to eighth, so all hope is not lost.

“I just think we didn’t really put together everything we had,” said an untroubled Palou. “We’re going to have to start from the back, but we know we have a fast car and we can make it from there. It’s gonna be a pretty busy race. It’s the first (challenging starting spot) of the year; hopefully the last one, but yeah, we will have to work for it, for sure.”

Points to ponder from IndyCar 2023’s first quarter

We’ve put the first quarter of the NTT IndyCar Series season to bed, and with that in mind, it’s time to make a few observations and draw a few conclusions about all that’s taken place before we hit the fast forward button and blast through the …

We’ve put the first quarter of the NTT IndyCar Series season to bed, and with that in mind, it’s time to make a few observations and draw a few conclusions about all that’s taken place before we hit the fast forward button and blast through the month of May, starting with Saturday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix.

• Spanning the opening four rounds, this has been the season of Romain Grosjean. With the 37-year-old leading three of the four races and showing himself to be Andretti Autosport’s most consistent threat and its steadiest performer, he heads to Indy sitting fifth in the championship, just 15 points out of the lead. That breakthrough victory can’t be far away.

• As much as I didn’t anticipate Grosjean would assert himself as Andretti’s top dog (so far), I also failed to imagine a scenario where Colton Herta would get through the four opening races with zero poles and zero wins. Herta’s had more than enough adversity to open the season and holds P10 in the championship, but so has Kyle Kirkwood, whose lone finish inside the top 10 came with his Long Beach win. It’s a bit of deja vu from 2022 for Herta, who entered the Indy GP sitting P11 in the championship. Herta, rolling into the Speedway, while P3 among Andretti’s four drivers? That’s a shocker.

Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images

• Kirkwood’s one spot ahead of Herta in the standings in P9. If it weren’t for his terrible luck at St. Petersburg (launched over Jack Harvey) and the suspension failure at Texas, he’d be a lot closer to Grosjean in the championship. And he’s almost out of bad finishes if he wants to be a title contender; you only get three or four poor results before championship aspirations start to fade, and registering two with 13 rounds left to run means Kirkwood needs to race clean and avoid cartoon anvils over the next five months.

• Marcus Ericsson’s doing something for the first time in his IndyCar career, and it bodes well for the future. A poor qualifying run to P16 in Texas? He flipped that into a finish of P8. Another underwhelming start at Barber where he rolled off P13? Improved to P10 by the checkered flag. Ericsson’s turning bad starts into better results, which is why he’s leading the championship and will continue to do so if he can keep landing on the podium as he’s done twice this year. He’s one of only two drivers — along with Ganassi teammate Alex Palou — to finish inside the top 10 at every round, and that’s how title bids become possible. The only fix Ericsson needs right now is to get his qualifying results back in order.

• Piggybacking on Ericsson’s season to date, Pato O’Ward has been a beast with a pair of seconds and a fourth. If he could go back to Long Beach, avoid the unwise lunge on Kirkwood that caused him to spin and trade a likely podium for P17, O’Ward would be the runaway championship leader.

• Leaving Barber last year, Team Penske landed at the Indy GP as Chevy’s top squad with Scott McLaughlin holding P2 and Josef Newgarden at P3 in the standings; O’Ward and Arrow McLaren, in P5, were second on the Bowtie’s depth chart. The tables have been turned departing Barber where McLaren is Chevy’s No. 1 team heading into the Indy GP, with O’Ward in P2. McLaughlin, in P4, isn’t far behind.

• Newgarden and Kirkwood are having extremely similar seasons where one big win has been surrounded by largely forgettable results. P6 in the standings, Newgarden’s been wearing his anger and frustration on the outside — readily visible in person, and on the broadcasts — which only emerged sporadically last season. Maybe “Angry Josef” is the persona that’s needed to earn a third championship.

• As noted, Palou has been a vision of consistency with all four finishes being between P3 and P8. If there’s a surprise here, it’s not in his solid performances; it’s in how he’s yet to look like a threat for victory, with a brief exception at Texas. Coming off a turbulent 2022 where it took until the 17th and final race for Palou to deliver a strong win, I didn’t anticipate the new season getting under way without him being in the mix for victory on a regular basis.

• Chevrolet caught Honda by surprise last year and ran away with the manufacturers’ championship after winning the first four races and seven more of the remaining 13. In response to its shellacking by the Bowtie, Honda’s taken two of the first four rounds this year and, thankfully, there doesn’t appear to be a major difference between the two, which should make for good fun as both appear capable of winning every race.

• The only caveat to the apparent engine parity is the Indy 500, where Honda mopped the floor with Chevy in 2022. One brand owned the season; the other owned the biggest race. Will we see a reversal of fortunes in qualifying and the race? Or will Chevy match or exceed the power and fuel economy Honda used to such devastating effect at the Speedway? I can’t wait to find out in a few weeks’ time.

• The mounting number of unforced errors by Helio Castroneves has been hard to watch and harder to ignore. Three off-track excursions of his own making at Barber, along with the solo lap 1, Turn 1 spin and crash at Long Beach, have placed the 48-year-old on the hot seat.

• The four-time Indy 500 winner’s struggles are emblematic of his Meyer Shank Racing team’s season. To his credit, Castroneves has MSR’s only top 10 — a P10 at Texas — and every other result when combined with Simon Pagenaud’s output has been P15 or worse. Said another way, of the eight total races with both drivers, seven of the eight finishes have been between P15 and P26, which isn’t sustainable. I can’t think of a tandem that needs to have a transformative Indy 500 more than Castroneves and Pagenaud.

• Rookie Sting Ray Robb heeded the advice of many entering Long Beach: Just get to the finish. And after two DNFs to open his season, the dialed-back mindset helped. A fiery end to Barber wasn’t his fault, but it did compound the issue of completing so few race laps. Of the 525 race laps run in 2023, Robb’s missed out on 101 in just four races.

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Grosjean taking run of second places in his stride

All that stands between Romain Grosjean being a five-time race winner and the NTT IndyCar Series’ biggest bridesmaid is 10.1282 seconds. It was a 4.9510s deficit to race winner Rinus VeeKay at the first Indianapolis Grand Prix in 2021. It was a …

All that stands between Romain Grosjean being a five-time race winner and the NTT IndyCar Series’ biggest bridesmaid is 10.1282 seconds.

It was a 4.9510s deficit to race winner Rinus VeeKay at the first Indianapolis Grand Prix in 2021. It was a separation of 1.1142s to Will Power at the second Indy GP that year. It was chasing Josef Newgarden but coming up 1.2869s short last year in Long Beach. The gap shrank on Grosjean’s return to Long Beach last month, but Kyle Kirkwood still managed cross the finish line with a 0.9907s advantage over his teammate. And in the latest installment of the maddening streak that Grosjean wants to end, he was powerless to stop Scott McLaughlin at Barber Motorsports Park and earned yet another second-place result with a 1.7854s difference to the winner.

Combined, Grosjean leads his rivals in the odd category of owning five runner-up finishes without a win.

According to IndyCar statistician Scott Richards, Grosjean isn’t in record-breaking territory at the moment, but he does find himself among an interesting assortment of IndyCar drivers who either wore out the second step on the podium before capturing their first win, or rose as high as that second step before moving away from open-wheel racing.

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More than 100 years ago, Dave Lewis set the standard for placing second, doing so eight incredible times between 1913-1919, prior to winning his first IndyCar race in July of 1919 at the 1.125-mile board track oval in Uniontown, PA.

Somewhat recent IndyCar veteran Vitor Meira matched Lewis’ tally of eight runner-ups between 2004-2008, but the Brazilian was unable to secure a win before his time in IndyCar was over. Geoff Brabham, father of 2016 Indy 500 starter Matty Brabham, ran second on six occasions between 1981-1987, and like Meira, he never won. The same was true for Russ Snowberger with five trips to second place from 1928-1934 and five for Raul Boesel from 1992-1994, all without the satisfaction of being first at least once in their IndyCar careers.

But there are glimpses of hope for Grosjean in the history books.

IndyCar’s outing to South Carolina in 1954 to race on Darlington’s 1.366-mile oval was an important one for Manny Ayulo, who ended his streak of five runner-ups from 1953-1954 with a win. Former IndyCar badass Pancho Carter also put his string of five second-place finishes from 1974-1978 to rest with his breakthrough victory on the big Michigan oval in 1981. The next stop on the tour at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, site of Grosjean’s first pole position, could easily be the place where the streak ends.

Grosjean led a combined 56 laps during his rookie and sophomore IndyCar seasons. He beat that total in one afternoon by leading 57 laps to dominate most of the Children’s of Alabama Indy GP. The Swiss-born Frenchman has led three of the four races held this year for a total of 90 laps, earning a pair of pole positions and two runner-up finishes for Andretti in the last two weeks.

If there’s anything he’s grown tired of, it’s the number ‘two,’ but it’s a welcome frustration as it signal how close he is to becoming a first-time winner.

“You know, second is not that bad,” Grosjean told RACER. “It could be worse. Racing sometimes does not go your way and at Barber, normally, the two-stop plan wins. But yesterday, it was three stops that won because we didn’t have a yellow and Race Control left the pits open for [those on a three-stop strategy]. Without that, it was a different story. But we’re good. We’ve got two poles; Andretti got three out of four, and we are in a good place in the championship.”

Most people expected Grosjean to have a better season with Andretti Autosport than his first, but few would have predicted his immediate rise to become the fastest and most consistent driver in a squad that includes Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood. Presently fifth in the drivers’ standings, Grosjean and the No. 28 Honda entry are looking like the team’s top contender for the title.

“What I see is that we are competitive,” he said. ”And that’s how you win a championship, by being here all the time. So last year was not the case; we had some good ones with bad ones. But this year, I feel like we’re strong everywhere. So for me, winning a championship will mean being here every weekend, and sometimes it comes your way and sometimes it doesn’t come your way, but you are in the mix every single weekend.

“That’s the key to get it. We will keep going, we keep pushing 100 percent. We want to win, but you know, P2 works as well. And if we’re always here, there’s going to be chances that we win. Simple as that.”

Grosjean keeps Andretti team rolling with Barber IndyCar pole

Romain Grosjean has a 50-percent pole record so far this year after securing P1 to open the season at St. Petersburg and P1 at Barber Motorsports Park, where the driver of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda will lead the field to green on Sunday …

Romain Grosjean has a 50-percent pole record so far this year after securing P1 to open the season at St. Petersburg and P1 at Barber Motorsports Park, where the driver of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda will lead the field to green on Sunday for the 90-lap contest.

Factoring in teammate Kyle Kirkwood’s pole and eventual win at Long Beach, the Andretti squad has claimed 75 percent of the NTT IndyCar Series poles in 2023, and after losing an engine early in Friday’s lone practice session, the progress made by Grosjean and race engineer Olivier Boisson — despite being behind on time compared to the rest of their rivals — was nothing short of impressive.

“I’ve got a hell of a team,” said Grosjean, who is expected to re-sign with Andretti. “We’re doing such a great job this year, the car awesome. And I’ve got three teammates that I can rely on, so I went [with a baseline setup from them] and from the moment we started quali, I knew I had it.”

Grosjean’s pole lap of 1m05.8396s was challenged on the last lap by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who helped Honda to sweep the front row with a 1m05.9130s tour in the No. 10 entry. Team Chevy claimed the second row with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 with his 1m05.9382s lap and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who posted a 1m05.9515s in the No. 3 car as the top four were separated by a scant 0.1119s.

Ganassi’s Scott Dixon captured fifth in the No. 9 Honda with a 1m06.0723s run, and in a welcome turn of fortunes for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Christian Lundgaard took the final spot in the Fast Six with a 1m06.1601s in the No. 45 Honda.

“I told them just before we went out for the Fast Six the worst that can happen [is] we’re going to be sixth,” Lundgaard said. “We finished on the podium at the GP last year starting from sixth, so it’s not too bad of a place today.”

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Beyond the top performers, Barber qualifying was notable for the unexpected misses by some of the series’ top drivers led by a cluster of Will Power, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson and Colton Herta from P11-14.

The opening segment of qualifying featured 13 of the 27 drivers where the six fastest would transfer into the Firestone Fast 12. Those to make it through were led by Josef Newgarden, Grosjean, Alexander Rossi, Kirkwood, Dixon and Rinus VeeKay.

The seven who failed to transfer were led by a disappointed Ericsson (who starts P13), Callum Ilott (P15), David Malukas (P17), Graham Rahal (P19), Helio Castroneves (P21), Sting Ray Robb (P23) and Benjamin Pedersen (P25).

The other half of the opening knockout round pitted 14 drivers against each other, and in the group, the fastest six headed to the Fast 12 were led by Palou, O’Ward, McLaughlin, Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist, and Power.

The eight who failed to transfer were led by a frustrated Herta (P14), Simon Pagenaud (P16), Devlin DeFrancesco (P18), Conor Daly (P20), Agustin Canapino (P22), Jack Harvey (P24), Marcus Armstrong (P26) — who lost his two fastest laps for blocking Lundgaard — and Santino Ferrucci (P27), who was unable to turn a competitive lap after struggling with a transmission problem.

The Fast 12 was its usual wild affair as the players in the Firestone Fast Six were led by Grosjean, O’Ward, McLaughlin (who knocked Newgarden out), Palou, Lundgaard and Dixon.

Starting positions seven through 12 were led by Newgarden, Rosenqvist, Rinus VeeKay, Rossi, Power and Kirkwood. VeeKay ran off the track, as did Power, and Kirkwood spun on new tires.

The Fast Six didn’t fail to entertain as Grosjean put up the best lap that stood during the opening shots at pole, and as the sextet went for their final blast around the Barber road course, the order shuffled as O’Ward went to P1 followed by McLaughlin. But Grosjean had more to give and shot to P1, followed by Palou, O’Ward, McLaughlin, Dixon, and Lundgaard.

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Grosjean heading towards Andretti contract extension

Romain Grosjean is in the final year of his contract with Andretti Autosport, and according to the Swiss-born Frenchman’s team owner, the driver of the No. 28 Honda is in the frame to receive an extension. Asked if Grosjean’s strong start to 2023 …

Romain Grosjean is in the final year of his contract with Andretti Autosport, and according to the Swiss-born Frenchman’s team owner, the driver of the No. 28 Honda is in the frame to receive an extension.

Asked if Grosjean’s strong start to 2023 with a pole at St. Petersburg, front-running performances at St. Pete and Texas Motor Speedway, and run to second at Long Beach has been enough to earn an invitation to remain in the seat for 2024 and beyond, Michael Andretti was effusive in his praise for the Formula 1 veteran who switched to IndyCar in 2021.

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“I think so,” Andretti told RACER. “He’s done a 180-degree turnaround on his approach. He’s just a different person this year.”

In switching from Dale Coyne Racing where he spent his rookie season to Andretti Autosport for 2022, few things went as planned for Grosjean alongside new teammates Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi, and series newcomer Devlin DeFrancesco.

Highlights were sparse, with a second-place finish earned at the third round being his only podium visit of the year; placing 13th in the Drivers’ standings spoke to the frequent disenchantment between the driver and team as Herta and Rossi led the way with one race win apiece.

Entering the last season of the two-year deal, Grosjean has been a spark of positivity and speed within Andretti Autosport. It took a little while for both sides to get the best out of each other, but with Grosjean now serving as one of three constant threats to win alongside Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti is getting what he was looking for when he signed the 37-year-old to the program.

“We talked to him a lot about what he needed to improve, and he’s done just that,” Andretti said. “I couldn’t be happier with what Romain has done this year, with his approach and attitude, and it’s shown in his driving as well. It’s just an awesome story to see the way he’s turned things around. Really happy with him and for him.”

Like Grosjean, DeFrancesco’s two-year contract is up at the end of the season. Andretti acknowledged that funded drivers with a desire to wield a quick IndyCar have been inquiring about the No. 29 Honda’s future availability.

“I think a lot of people would love to be in that seat and have been asking about it,” he said. “But we haven’t made a decision yet on what we’re doing with the 29. We’re going to wait till midyear to make that final decision, so we’re going to have to wait and see.”

IndyCar qualifying recap with Romain Grosjean and Myles Rowe

Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean and USF Pro 2000 championship leader Myles Rowe join RACER’s Marshall Pruett to break down Saturday’s qualifying session at Long Beach where the Andretti team took pole and earned third.

Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean and USF Pro 2000 championship leader Myles Rowe join RACER’s Marshall Pruett to break down Saturday’s qualifying session at Long Beach where the Andretti team took pole and earned third.

F1 driver Romain Grosjean describes ‘the moment I realized I was going to live’ after fiery crash

“I met with death and that is the worst feeling I ever had,” the Formula 1 driver said.

All things considered, Haas driver Romain Grosjean appears to be in good spirits. The Formula 1 racer miraculously survived a fiery crash at the beginning of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, and he’s been posting frequent and positive updates on social media about his recovery.

On the first lap of Sunday’s race, Grosjean made contact with Daniil Kyvat before slamming into the track barrier, and his car was torn in half as it exploded into flames. Truly a horrifying sight. But the French driver was able to escape the cockpit with minor injuries, including burns on the backs of his hands, and Wednesday, he was released from the hospital his team said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Grosjean said he “saw death coming” as the flames surrounded his car, F1 reported, adding:

“For my children, I told myself that I had to get out. I put my hands in the fire, so I clearly felt it burning on the chassis. I got out, then I felt someone pulling on the suit, so I knew I was out.”

Among Grosjean’s updates on Instagram about his injuries and recovery, he posted a video of his car engulfed in flames and his escape, describing it as “the moment I realized I was going to live.”

He also praised F1 doctor Ian Roberts, calling him a “hero” after he helped pull the driver from the flames.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CISWc0Aity0/

In Grosjean’s caption for the video, he wrote:

This video is incredible.

Look at the professionalism of the fireman, trying to keep the fire away from me in the car.

Look at the action on Ian Roberts and his involvement. I told him he was a hero, he went into the fire as much as he could to save me.

Finally, this is also the moment I realized I was going to live. Extracting my body from the chassis. Yes it burned myself and yes it was painful but that’s nothing compare to the relief I felt as soon as I could get up. I felt Ian’s hands pulling me over the barrier and knew I was safe. I remember every second of it and life will never be the same again, but I’m sure for the best.
I met with death and that is the worst feeling I ever had. But I’m alive and will enjoy every second of life and every small win in a much better way from now on.

Thank you

Romain

Here’s a look at some of Grosjean’s other updates on Instagram since Sunday’s terrifying crash:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIL-IOZJ7Xm/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIOAVH5i0XW/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIP7qWkpb61/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIVgzHlpQLa/

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Romain Grosjean walks away from horrific, fiery crash at Bahrain Grand Prix

Romain Grosjean was involved in a terrifying accident that left his car ripped in half, but the driver was fortunately able to walk away.

Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean was involved in a terrifying accident on the first lap of Sunday’s Formula 1 Grand Prix that left his car ripped in half and engulfed in flames, but the French driver was fortunately able to get out of his car and hop over a safety barrier away from the wreckage.

As drivers jockeyed for position soon after the start of the race, Grosjean veered across the front of Daniil Kyvat, made contact and was turned directly into a barrier at turn 3. Grosjean’s car made contact with the metal barrier and went through it, doing major damage to his car and causing an immediate explosion.

The Formula 1 world feed did not show a replay of the accident immediately, leading many fans to fear the worst, but Grosjean was able to get out of the car and was shown walking to a medical vehicle with the help of two people. According to Haas F1 team principle Guenther Steiner, Grosjean suffered minor burns to his hands and ankles, and suspected broken ribs.

HAMAD I MOHAMMED/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Once it was confirmed that Grosjean survived and Formula 1 began to show footage of what had occurred, the racing world was stunned. That Grosjean was able to walk away is nothing short of a miracle.

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