Romain Grosjean Gunning for Abu Dhabi F1 Return, Reveals Steiner

In a move reminiscent of Niki Lauda in 1976, Romain Grosjean wants to return at the wheel of the car before the end of the season. The Frenchman met with a potentially life-threatening clash at the 2020 Bahrain GP. His car not only broke in half at the Armco barrier but also caught fire. While the flames engulfed him, he heroically escaped with the help of the marshals.

Romain Grosjean wants to finish the season

While that fire was extinguished, the competitive fire inside of Romain is still burning. According to Team Principal Guenther Steiner, he wants to take part in the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP – “The aim is really Romain would like to do it.

“I spoke to him yesterday about it. He really wants to be in Abu Dhabi. But I said, ‘Try to get better, we speak on Sunday or Monday let’s say, how you feel if it is doable.'”

However, his hands have suffered minor burns. Also, the high ’53G’ impact of the crash means that he is currently in the hospital. Effectively ruling him out of next week’s Sakhir GP, which is in a different layout of the same circuit. Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will replace him. Given that there is still time, Steiner is not willing to take any unnecessary risks with the health of his driver.

“But basically we cross that bridge when we come to it. At the moment, we’ve got plenty of time. Pietro is here, Romain is here, we just have to see how he feels, so I’m not in a hurry to decide what to do, or what we need. It depends on his health.”

Does it make sense for Grosjean to return?

If this wasn’t potentially the last race of his career, then the answer would have been no. Under normal circumstances, it would have made sense for the Haas driver to sit out the race and start fresh next season.

However, seeing as this could be his final hurray in F1, he might want to go out on a high; he would not want his last memory of F1 to be of that terrifying crash. Hence, from his point of view, it is understandable. Though, it is important that he is 100% fit for the race. Let’s hope he gets a proper send-off and banishes the demons of Bahrain.