‘I Was Surprised’ – Grosjean Vows to Accept Wolff’s Mercedes F1 Farewell Test

Romain Grosjean suffered an anti-climactic end to his career last season, as he never managed to celebrate his last race with his team, and rather spent it at the hospital. However, to provide the Frenchman with a proper sendoff, Mercedes approached him with an offer.

To turn Grosjean’s frown upside down, Mercedes announced that if none of the other teams provide the Frenchman with their car over the testing, they would be happy to do it.

Unfortunately, the offer was exclusively for the Abu Dhabi testing, which was entirely hosted for the junior drivers. Grosjean’s rather slow recovery meant that he could not the juicy offer at that moment.

However, the former Haas drivers sounded optimistic that he will soon reach out to Mercedes’ team principal, Toto Wolff, hoping to rekindle that offer over the upcoming winter testing.

Grosjean keen on jumping in the Mercedes-built car

The 34-year-old opened up that the Mercedes‘ offer is something that one cannot refuse. Hence, he hinted at his return to F1 for the testing.

“I’m still very keen on jumping in the Mercedes F1 car for sure,” he is quoted as saying by Autosport.

“It’s an offer that you cannot refuse. And just for me to have an understanding of the taste of that car and how it was working.

“At the minute, I think they’re absolutely flat out in building the new car for the new season. So I won’t phone Toto right now. But he can expect to get a phone call, eventually, and me ask him to have a go at it.”

Things are turning out quite well for Grosjean, considering his hands were recently set free after being kept under darkness for over a month.

Hence, by the time winter testing begins, the Frenchman will be ready to take the Mercedes beast for a stroll around the desert.

The offer struck me in a positive way: Grosjean

Grosjean revealed his initial reaction to Mercedes providing him with an opportunity to bid farewell to his long F1 career.

“The offer really touched me in a good way. I was surprised that it was such a natural way of going for it. And obviously, I would love to do it,” he said.

With Grosjean ready to take up Mercedes’ offer, all eyes will be on how the Silver Arrows react to it. As of now, the team will be rather busy with the finishing touches over their upcoming W12 at Brackley.

So, will Mercedes provide Grosjean with his much-awaited opportunity of driving the championship-winning W11? Well, only time will tell.

Read More: Toto Wolff: How Did a Candle Seller Go on to Run the Mercedes F1 Team?