Romain Grosjean

Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (French pronunciation: [ʁɔmɛ̃ ɡʁoʒɑ̃]; born 17 April 1986) is a French and Swiss racing driver, currently competing in the IndyCar Series for Juncos Hollinger. Grosjean competed under the French flag in Formula One between 2009 and 2020.

Born and raised in Geneva to a Swiss father and French mother, Grosjean is the grandson of Olympic alpine skier Fernand Grosjean and the great-grandson of weapons designer Edgar Brandt. Initially competing under a Swiss license, Grosjean dominated the 2005 French Formula Renault championship at his first attempt and joined the Renault Sport Academy. He was the 2007 Formula 3 Euro Series drivers' champion. In 2008, he became the inaugural GP2 Asia Series champion and came fourth in his first year in GP2. In 2009 he made his Formula One debut for Renault at the European Grand Prix and came fourth again in GP2 despite missing the final eight races. After being dropped by Renault, he returned to junior formulae, winning the 2010 Auto GP championship at the first attempt and winning the 2011 GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series becoming the first – and as of 2021, only – two-time GP2 Asia champion and the only driver to hold both the GP2 Asia series and main GP2 series titles simultaneously. Due to the Asia and Main GP2 series being discontinued, this will likely remain true for the foreseeable future.

In 2012, Grosjean returned to Formula One with the Lotus F1 Team, alongside Kimi Räikkönen. He took his first Formula One podium at the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix and took his first fastest lap in the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. He became the first driver since 1994 to receive a race ban after causing a multi-car pile-up, at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. In 2013 he remained with Lotus, taking six podiums. He drove for Lotus again alongside Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado in the 2014 and 2015 seasons and achieved a podium finish at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix before moving to Haas from 2016 to 2020. In what would be his final Formula One race, Grosjean survived a dramatic crash during the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix when his car separated in two and caught fire after penetrating a metal guardrail on the first lap. Grosjean sustained minor burns and credited the halo with saving his life.

After the 2020 Formula One season, Grosjean moved to the IndyCar Series. He obtained his first pole position and podium in his third race, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.