Romain Grosjean returns as Haas confirms special F1 comeback test

Former Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean will reunite with the team for a TPC test at Mugello on Friday, it has been announced.

It will see Grosjean return to the cockpit of a Haas for the first time since his F1 career ended in a fiery accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Romain Grosjean to reunite with Haas for Mugello TPC outing

Grosjean claimed 10 podium finishes in 179 F1 starts between 2009 and 2020, joining Haas from Lotus ahead of the American team’s debut season in 2016.

The Frenchman’s fourth-place finish at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix remains the best result in the team’s 10-year history.

Grosjean’s F1 career ended abruptly when he suffered a terrifying accident at the Bahrain Grand Prix of 2020, when his car pierced the barrier and became engulfed in flames after an incident on the opening lap.

28 seconds in hell: Romain Grosjean’s Bahrain 2020 crash revisited

👉 28 seconds in hell: The story behind Romain Grosjean’s 2020 Bahrain GP crash

👉 Eight times the Halo became a saviour: Grosjean, Leclerc and more scary incidents remembered

Grosjean, who had already been informed by Haas that his contract would not be extended beyond the end of the 2020 campaign, sat out the final two races of the season after suffering burns to his hands.

In a statement issued to PlanetF1.com, Haas has confirmed that Grosjean will reunite with the team for a special TPC [Testing of Previous Car] appearance behind the wheel of the American outfit’s 2023 car at Mugello on Friday.

The test will see Grosjean appear in a helmet design produced by his children, which he originally intended to wear for what was expected to be his last F1 appearance at the 2020 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The test will be overseen by several members of Grosjean’s ‘original Haas crew’ including Ayao Komatsu, the current team principal, who followed Grosjean to Haas in 2016 after acting as his race engineer at Lotus.

Komatsu will make a brief return to race-engineering duties for Grosjean’s test, along with Dominic Haines, who served as Grosjean’s race engineer across 2019/20 and now works as Haas’s heritage chief engineer.

Ian Staniforth, the race team support chief mechanic, will also be on site having previously worked as Grosjean’s No. 1 race mechanic.

Grosjean said: “I’m incredibly grateful to Gene Haas and to Ayao Komatsu for inviting me to participate in the TPC at Mugello.

“To say I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car would naturally be an understatement.

“I really can’t believe it’s been almost five years, but to come back and have this outing with my old team is truly something special.

“I’m excited to see everyone, I’m sure we’ll spend a bit of time reminiscing about the old days, but I’m also keen to be of use regarding the trackside agenda with the VF-23 – it’s great the team now has the TPC program as part of its on-going development.

“Finally, my kids had designed my helmet for what was meant to be my final grand prix in Abu Dhabi back in 2020 – I’m at last going to be able to give it a go in a Formula 1 car on Friday.”

Komatsu added: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Romain Grosjean back into a Formula 1 car for the first time in five years but especially proud he’s returning in one of our cars – it’s only fitting.

“Romain and I have worked together throughout his entire Formula 1 career so this test at Mugello is of particular significance to us both.

“I’m delighted he embraced the opportunity to come and get back behind the wheel with us, a day that’s going to be made extra special by having so many members of the original crew back together to witness it.

“It should be a fun day and knowing Romain as I do, I know he’ll want to give it his all as usual – I’d expect nothing less, not least as we’ve talked about making this happen for a long time now.”

As reported at the time by PlanetF1.com, Haas handed a TPC test to former Toyota, Sauber and Caterham F1 star Kamui Kobayashi earlier this year.

Kobayashi, who has links to Haas’ technical partner Toyota, drove the team’s 2023 car at Paul Ricard in June, more than a decade after his final F1 start.

The Mercedes team vowed to treat Grosjean to a special ‘farewell’ F1 test following his career-ending accident, with the Frenchman carrying out a seat fit with the Brackley-based outfit in 2021 ahead of a planned appearance at Paul Ricard.

However, Grosjean’s test was postponed indefinitely due to travel and quarantine complications during the Covid pandemic.

It has also confirmed that James Hinchcliffe, the former IndyCar racer, will also drive the Haas VF-23 car at Mugello for filming purposes.

PlanetF1.com reported last week that Hinchcliffe, who claimed six IndyCar victories and set pole position for the 2016 edition of the Indianapolis 500, will record an upcoming feature for Formula 1’s in-house production F1 TV during his test with Haas.

Read next: Felipe Massa issues update ahead of huge $82m lawsuit over Hamilton defeat