Romain Grosjean is confident that his delayed test of a Mercedes F1 car will be able to go ahead at some point in 2022. With Grosjean's F1 career cut short at the end of 2020 after he suffered a horrific crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes offered Grosjean a test of one of their cars during the 2021 season. This was in light of Haas not having the resources to give their former driver such a send-off. The Mercedes outing was originally scheduled for around the time of last year's French Grand Prix, with Grosjean coming to Paul Ricard during an off-day from his busy IndyCar schedule. However, travel restrictions amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the schedules of both Grosjean and Mercedes, meant that the test never went ahead. However, speaking at an IndyCar press conference earlier this week, Grosjean said the intent is still there for the test to happen. "I sent a message to Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss] after Abu Dhabi…" Grosjean is quoted by Motorsport.com , referring to the dramatic F1 season finale. "Well, I left a couple of weeks, a few weeks going by, and then I sent a message to Toto, and he did reply. He started, 'Thank you', and then the last sentence was, 'We need to get you in that car this year'."
Grosjean expects his neck to suffer in F1 test return
Grosjean will be racing a full IndyCar programme during 2022, stepping up his involvement in the series after landing a seat with the Andretti team. He and his family have now moved to the United States, meaning that finding the time for an F1 swansong test could be even trickier, especially with a record-breaking 23 Grands Prix taking place. "It's still on the cards. There were a few things last year that didn't make it easy," added Grosjean. "This year I cannot go at the French Grand Prix, because we're racing in Iowa the same weekend. "But definitely Mercedes is keen to do it, I am keen to do it, even though my neck will be dying because I've lost part of the muscle there. You can ask Pato [O'Ward, McLaren] what it was like [in an F1 car]. "But yes, we still want to do it, and if it happens, great. But… the main focus is now trying to win races with Andretti."
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