Romain Grosjean has announced that he is to race in IndyCar this season after securing a seat with Dale Coyne Racing.

However, the Frenchman will only contest the rounds held on road and street tracks having decided to miss out on the superspeedways and ovals, including Indianapolis.

“I'm very excited for this opportunity to race in the United States in the IndyCar Series," he said in a press conference today, less than two months after his horrific crash during the Sakhir Grand Prix.

"I had different options in front of me for this coming season and choosing to go IndyCar racing was definitively my favourite one, although, I'm not ready yet to take on the ovals.

"Being a father of three kids I need to be sensible in my decisions, in my choices in the future," he added, "and at the minute I don't feel comfortable, for my kids and my wife, to race ovals... at least the speedways.

"IndyCar has a much more level playing field than what I have been used to in my career so far," he said. "It will be exciting to challenge for podiums and wins again."

Asked about his recovery following the fiery crash in Bahrain, he said: "My left hand is still healing, but we are just about ready to get back into the race car and start this next chapter of my career."

Having been dropped by Haas, even before Sakhir Grosjean's F1 career appeared to be at an end, the Frenchman, though often erratic, widely regarded as one of the fastest men on the grid.

For Grosjean, the move to IndyCar represents a return to the type of spec-car series in which he had previously starred, most notably GP2. In today's press conference he admitted that he was approached Dale Coyne, before the infamous Bahrain crash.

I got in contact with Dale Coyne before the Bahrain incident, I think… maybe a couple of weeks before Imola and we got on very nicely, and he made us an offer. I was going to do the full championship but then, obviously, Bahrain happened.

"One thing I've learned with my accident is that life is short," he continued, "and I want to have the choice to say no to some things, and if that's being in Formula 1 to barely go out of Q1 once or twice a year, I think that chapter is closed for me and I would much rather look at other places where I can go race and potentially try to win races."

Effectively ruling out a return to F1, he admitted that he is keen to take Toto Wolff up on his offer of a run in the Mercedes.

"I'm still very keen on jumping in the Mercedes for sure," he grinned, "it's an offer you cannot refuse. Just for me to have an understanding of the taste of that car and how it was working. But I won't bother Toto right now, though he can expect to get a phone call eventually."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 06/02/2021 0:33

"@ Max drives like a Grandma....Interesting post. One mans meat etc etc etc. Thankfully not everyone shares the same opinion. Your observations re the relative looks of both Indycars and F1 is a prime example. When it comes to design, as a professional artist, I am comfortable with the concept that 'design simplicity is the epitome of elegance'. I think that the Porsche 911 is the best evidence of that. The current F1 cars are somewhat ugly insofar as they sport so many external add-ons/flip ups that any visual design flow is totally interrupted. Couple that with the ugly halo and you have quite a visual mess...IMO. On a far greater scale F1 is founded as an 'open wheel' category, not 'open top' although this has been the accepted norm since inception. It still is an open top category. The screen is simply a 'halo' with infill panels to afford the driver maximum cover in case of accidents/flying debris et al. Plus it cleans up what is an abomination of design.

Finally you state that they are all the same...true, but I will quote the BE statement here. 'If you painted every F1 car white and stood back then they'd all look identical and you couldn't pick one from the other'. That also is a truism. With the Indycars sporting different livery it breaks the pattern that is visually transmitted similar to F1. As stated, i would still like to see the screen appear in F1 but if not...then there you go. As for Grosjean well what can one say...lovely chap but still IMO a 'first lap nutcase'. When the results of the enquiry into his latest crash are revealed i would expect them to echo this very sentiment although it may be given the whitewash treatment owing to the gravity of the outcome. Let's see..."

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2. Posted by Max Drives Like Grandma, 05/02/2021 2:00

"Romain Grosjean in F1 ＝ Crash, Bang, Wollop!

Romain Grosjean in IndyCar = Crash, Bang, Wollop!

Good luck Romain, for your children's sake! But if you're always thinking about your family, then maybe you really shouldn't be racing at all!

Kevin Magnussen would probably do better in IndyCar!

Personally speaking, I don't really like IndyCar in recent years and I think the cars looks horrible, and they're all the same! In particular, the aeroscreen is a total turnoff for me because it's almost like the end of the open top cars at the pinnacle of motor racing, so I really hope that F1 won't adopt this hideous looking device!
At the moment the F1 cars still looks fantastic, beautiful, and a work of art, especially the black Mercedes with their special livery! It is absolutely a work of art, and I don't think you can say that about any of the IndyCars!

"

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3. Posted by kenji, 04/02/2021 12:08

"Likewise F1 Yank...Indycar is a good competitive series with some of the very best looking cars. The screen looks awesome when compared to the halo. I'm surprised that there has been no mention of adopting the screen in the new F1 R & R for '22. It would improve the looks immeasurably besides being safe and give the drivers just that bit more cover.!!!"

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4. Posted by F1 Yank, 03/02/2021 19:37

"I always like seeing F1 drivers in Indycar it shows how good they really are! Hopefully the Dale Coyne seat will be competing for podiums. We shall see!"

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5. Posted by @R1Racing71, 03/02/2021 15:38

"Wise move a losing the Ovals."

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Grosjean heads to IndyCar

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