Grosjean To Race With Andretti In 2022
Calum Gill 18:07 24/09/2021
Ex-Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean will race for Andretti Autosport in his second IndyCar season, taking on the full calendar including the Indianapolis 500 and other ovals.
Grosjean elected to alter his plans from full to part-time for his maiden IndyCar season this year following his huge Bahrain F1 crash in 2020, and joined Dale Coyne Racing with support from NASCAR team owner Rick Ware. Despite racing for one of the series’ smallest teams, Grosjean excelled in the family-style atmosphere and with French-speaking engineer Olivier Boisson and took a pole position in only his third race, on the Indy road course. The fans have really taken to Grosjean, wearing fire department and phoenix t-shirts in honour of how he overcame that fiery Bahrain incident last year.
Grosjean narrowed down his 2022 choice to staying with Dale Coyne or joining fellow Honda-powered team Andretti, and his decision is finally public knowledge. “I’m delighted to be joining Andretti Autosport and driving the No. 28 DHL Honda for next season,” said Grosjean, who replaces Ryan Hunter-Reay in that car. “It’s a big honour to be joining such a great team as Andretti, anyone in the motorsport world knows the name Andretti. I’m super happy and proud to be racing with the team. I’m also very proud to be representing with DHL. I’ve known the DHL colours on racing cars for a very long time. I couldn’t be more proud to represent such a great company in IndyCar.
"I’m hoping that we are going to be very successful together, which is our aim on every side. I would like also to thank Dale Coyne Racing for giving me the opportunity to join IndyCar. I’ve enjoyed the racing so much and it’s given me the change today to be racing with one of the most competitive and best teams in the world.” Grosjean’s best finish came in the pair of Indy road course races, taking second in both. He’s only 15th in the championship but missed three of the oval races including the double-points Indy 500, so his average finishing position of 9.6 is much more representative, as is his average starting position of 11.8.
“We are thrilled to welcome Romain to the Andretti Autosport family,” said Michael Andretti, CEO and Chairman, Andretti Autosport. “He already had an impressive resume before coming to IndyCar and watching what he’s been able to do in his rookie season here has been exciting to say the least. His vast motorsport experience will be beneficial to the team alongside our already strong 2022 driver line-up. We also couldn’t be more excited to continue our strong partnership with DHL. The DHL sponsorship is one of the longest and most successful in the paddock and we look forward to continued success on and off the track.”
It has five Indy 500 wins and four championship victories, although the last championship title came in 2012 and Grosjean is a potential key component of bringing the team out of its relevant slump. Difficulty in adapting set-ups to the new aero screen meant only one victory in 2020, and this year the team has not taken a big enough leap compared to Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, Arrow McLaren SP and Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
