“Not the choice I would’ve made,” Former Haas driver Romain Grosjean differs in opinion with the team’s decision to replace Mick Schumacher with Nico Hulkenberg
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Romain Grosjean states his disapproval of Haas's decision to sign Nico Hulkenberg
Romain Grosjean is a French racing driver who spent almost a decade in Formula 1. He was an integral part of the Haas F1 team from the team’s inception and played a fundamental role in the development of the American team. However, the Frenchman’s stint came to an abrupt end after a life-threatening crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Grosjean survived even after the car caught fire, giving him the nickname, “The Phoenix.”
Romain Grosjean uploaded a video on his YouTube channel, reviewing the driver lineups of the 2023 F1 grid, he, however, had some disagreements regarding his former team’s lineup for next year, as Haas signed Nico Hulkenberg to replace Mick Schumacher. The Frenchman stated this change as “Not the choice I would’ve made,” with the 36-year-old explaining his reasons for keeping Schumacher, stating, “I think Mick Schumacher had a good end to the season and there was no real reason to change it.”
Grosjean mentioned the team’s desire to have a different driver as the reason for the hiring, the Frenchman said, “but the team wanted a different driver so they’ve called Nico Hulkenberg.” Romain praised Nico Hulkenberg as a good performer and even mentioned his history with the German in junior categories, with the two even being teammates 15 years ago, the “Phoenix” said, “Nico has shown some great pace in the past. We used to be teammates in 2007 in Formula 3 we used to be competitors in GP2 in 2009.
Romain may not agree with his former team’s decision for hiring Nico in place of Mick Schumacher but the 36-year-old did not shy away from acknowledging the German and hopes for Hulkenberg to perform well at the American team, Grosjean stated, “Very talented driver [Nico Hulkenberg] so let’s see what he can do at Haas but yeah not the choice I would’ve made.” It seems that the Frenchman was satisfied with Mick’s two years in the team and didn’t believe this change to be necessary.
Romain Grosjean joins the Lamborghini LMDh Hypercar programme
After spending two years racing in the Indycar championship in the United States, the Frenchman will be making a return to Europe next year as part of Lamborghini’s hypercar entry in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for 2024. The 36-year-old will spend 2023 racing in the Italian giant’s GT Daytona Pro entry with Iron Lynx. Romain hopes to get a head start with the GT racing in order to prepare himself for the 2024 Hypercar project.
Romain Grosjean in his time in F1 was unable to achieve the success he potentially deserved, however even as the Frenchman gets success elsewhere, be it in Indycar or his upcoming endeavors with Lamborghini, the 36-year-old has not lost his passion and love for the pinnacle of motorsport, keeping a keen eye at the happenings in the paddock. Perhaps one day we’ll see Grosjean finally get a run in the Mercedes W11, which was promised by Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff.
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Armaan Agarwal
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