Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean is a Swiss-born racing driver with dual French-Swiss nationality who competes under the French flag. He currently drives for Haas F1 Team in the Formula 1 World Championship. Grosjean made an F1 debut in 2009, recording more than 160 starts since then and scoring ten podiums.

Before stepping to premier single-seater competition, Grosjean collected several championship titles in different ladder series - Formula Lista Junior, French Formula Renault, Formula 3 Euro Series, Auto GP, GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series.

Romain Grosjean

Successful from the beginning

The start of Grosjean’s racing career was similar to the start of many drivers before him. His first success was the title won in 2003 Formula Lista Junior, now Formula LO. That achievement opened the doors to French Formula Renault in which he finished 7th in 2004. In the same time, Grosjean has competed in Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup where he was 14th at the end of the season.

In 2005, Romain again competed on two fronts. He became French Formula Renault champion winning 10 of 16 races while in Eurocup he was 12th. French manufacturer was happy with Grosjean’s performances and soon he was included in the Renault Driver Development program.

Romain Grosjean is celebrating success in Formula 3 race at Nogaro

Formula 3 champion in 2007

Progress in Grosjean's career continued in 2006 when he moved to Formula 3, bu the results in the first Formula 3 Euro Series weren’t so good. He scored only one podium finish and was 13th overall but he impressed as a guest driver in the British Formula 3 Championship, where he won two out of two races that he started, in Pau.

The following year Romain Grosjean did much better and won the Formula 3 title, after winning six races and seven more podium finishes. In 2007, the French driver was ahead of some well-known rivals like Sebastien Buemi, Nico Hulkenberg and Kamui Kobayashi. That success secured further ascent for the Romain and GP2 Series was his next stop.

Romain Grosjean, 2011 GP2 Series champion

Long way to success in GP2 Series

He spent four years in the series and did relatively well with three different teams. With ART Grand Prix team in 2008, Grosjean was 4th after winning twice. In the following year, with Barwa Addax Team, he again won two times and he was again 4th overall.

In 2010 he finished 14th after competing in only eight races for DAMS. Finally, in 2011 Grosjean took the GP2 title in dominant style, winning five races and finishing 35 points ahead of runner-up Luca Filippi.

Romain Grosjean made an F1 debut in 2009 with Renault

Formula One debut as a replacement driver

Paralelly, Grosjean had duties in other racing series. In GP2 Asia Series, he won the title with ART Grand Prix and debuted as a test pilot for Renault Formula 1 Team, replacing Nelson Piquet Jr.

In 2009 after the ’Crashgate’ controversy, he again replaced Piquet Jr. but this time as a full-time F1 driver. Romain drove in the last seven races that year but failed to score a single point.

Grosjean lost a seat in Formula 1 for 2010 campaign but did excellently in Auto GP with DAMS team. In eight races he scored four wins and had three more top 3 finishes. The same year, Grosjean debuted at 24 Hours of Lemans, failing to finish the race, while in 24 Hours of Spa he finished 10th.

On the podium with Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton at 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix

Formula One regular since 2012, six podiums in 2013

In 2011, the Frenchman returned to the Formula 1 with newly formed Lotus team, the successor of Renault F1 team. Grosjean was one of the team’s test drivers that year and next year he was promoted to full-time driver. Quite unexpectedly, Romain did very well in his first full-time season. Despite failing to finish seven of 21 races, Grosjean finished 8th in the Drivers’ championship, with third places in Bahrain and Hungary as the season highlights.

Grosjean did even better in 2013, scoring a total of 132 points and finishing 7th in the Drivers’ championship, but the three crashes in the training sessions drew even more attention. Again he finished 3rd in Bahrain, but also in Germany, Korea, Japan and India. That year is the best in Grosjean’s career so far, after the Lotus team financial struggle in 2014 and 2015.

Even in those hard circumstances, Grosjean did well in some races, especially in 2015, when he was third in the Belgian Grand Prix. That year was the last for the Frenchman in Lotus.

Romain Grosjean joined Haas F1 Team in 2016

Four tough seasons with Haas F1 Team

During 2015, Grosjean secured a deal with Haas F1 Team, newcomers to the series, ready to lead ambitious American team in 2016. Many fans and experts are inclining that Grosjean is capable of driving for the bigger team. However, before that, the French driver has to prove what he is capable of in the US team.

In 2016, Grosjean finished 13th in the Drivers' Championship. He was able to score points in five races, with the 5th place in Bahrain as the highlight of the season. Romain was the team's leading driver and deserves all the plaudits after Haas F1 Team finished 8th in the Constructors' standings.

In 2017, Grosjean was again 13th in the final standings, scoring points in eight races. In 2018, his third season with Haas, he finished 14th in the points. Then, in 2019, his worst-ever season followed, with the 18th-place finish and just eight points on his account.

2012 Race of Champions winner

Winner of the Race of Champions

Outside Formula 1, Grosjean scored great success in 2012 by winning the Race of Champions. In Grand Final at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, he was faster than endurance racing legend Tom Kristensen. In the same event, Grosjean finished second in the Nations Cup, driving alongside WRC racer Sebastien Ogier.

Romain's life blossomed in 2012, as he married Marion Jolles in Chamonix, France. They have three children.