Romain Grosjean will return to Haas F1 for a one-time test

A Testing of Previous Cars event for Haas' 2023 vehicle, the VF-23, at Mugello has extended an invitation to the former Haas driver.

Nearly five years after his spectacular championship exit, Romain Grosjean will return to a Formula 1 car with his former Haas team.

At the Mugello Circuit in Italy on Friday, the Franco-Swiss driver will conduct a one-off test of Haas' 2023 vehicle, the VF-23.

When Haas joined Formula 1 in 2016, Grosjean was the first driver it signed. Over the course of four years, he scored ten podiums with Lotus.

Additionally, he had a significant role in luring Lotus' Ayao Komatsu, who started off as his race engineer and is now Haas' Team Principal.

After five years, Grosjean was on the verge of leaving the team at the end of the 2020 season, despite having earned Haas' first points on its debut and finishing fourth in Austria in 2018—still Haas' best finish.

After suffering injuries in his horrific accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, where he fled the blazing wreckage of a car that breached the crash barriers, that exit was expedited two races early.

Since then, Grosjean has not operated Formula 1 machinery, and although Mercedes offered to conduct a final test, it never happened.

Grosjean, who has subsequently participated in IMSA and IndyCar races, will now reunite with Haas for a final "farewell" test.

Grosjean expressed his immense gratitude to Gene Haas and Ayao Komatsu for extending an invitation to take part in the TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] program at Mugello. "It would be an understatement to say that I'm eager to drive a Formula 1 car once more.

"It's hard to imagine it's been nearly five years, but it's extremely great to be back and go on this trip with my former crew. Although I'm thrilled to meet everyone and know we'll spend some time catching up on the past, I'm also eager to contribute to the trackside agenda with the VF-23—it's fantastic that the team now has the TPC program as part of its ongoing growth.

"It's hard to believe it's been nearly five years, but it's really special to be back and go on this outing with my old team."

"I'm finally going to be able to try it in a Formula 1 car on Friday. My kids designed my helmet for what was supposed to be my last grand prix in Abu Dhabi back in 2020."

A number of Grosjean's former crew members are expected to participate, including Komatsu, who will return to his previous position as Race Engineer for the duration of the test.

For the first time in five years, I'm ecstatic to welcome Romain back into a Formula 1 car, but I'm more delighted that he's doing it in one of our vehicles—it's only fitting," Komatsu added.