Romain Grosjean to Haas: An analysis

Romain Grosjean, the only French Formula One driver on the grid, has decided to jump up the sinking ship. He has recently confirmed his move to the newly formed Haas Formula One Team.

Gene Haas, already a big name in motorsports in the United States, decided that his company wasn’t getting the desired exposure racing around ovals in NASCAR. So, obviously the next logical step was to find a series that has a global audience and a reputation as the elite open wheel single seater racing series in the world. Enter Formula One. Now Formula One hasn’t been too kind to the Americans with only 19 Americans participating in over 10 or more Formula One events across its 65 years of existence.

So, what do you do when you’re the new kid on the block looking to fit in? Easy, You make friends with the biggest bully on the street.

Haas F1 and Ferrari have forged a very clever way of partnership, which many believe is the most efficient way to enter Formula One for an upcoming team, with Ferrari supplying them with the newly born and fresh V6s for 2016, the revised energy recovery and store devices and the Italian team’s gearbox. Haas F1 is using Ferrari’s wind tunnel as well which has been recently upgraded to the finest standards in the industry. Moreover, Ferrari has agreed to give technical support as best as they can.

If theory is put to practice then, maybe, Haas F1 will not go down the same path as the Hispania Racing Team or even struggle financially like many existing teams are, Lotus being a prime example. So, from the get go, Haas F1 looks like a genetically enhanced new born, which can either cause havoc and self-destruct or can grow into something wonderful. Whichever the path, it looks set to enter the mid-field the moment the car hits the track.

Surely this looks like a marriage made in heaven and kind of along the lines of Red Bull and Toro Rosso in the late 2000s and with such an involvement of Ferrari, Romain would’ve surely had the “scarlet” mist in his eyes when he put his pen to paper to seal the deal.

Coming to Romain, he’s made his move amidst the financial struggles of his now ex-team Lotus. Renault, however, have expressed its interest in buying a controlling stake in the Enstone based team and looks to return as a constructor in 2016. However, since the deal has not yet been finalized, and time is running out for Grosjean, he chose to jump ship than hope for a miracle rescue.

The idea of a French driver in a French team would surely have been appealing and attractive, with Grosjean having stated recently in public, that had Renault come sooner to the grid, he would’ve surely stayed, which makes us question if he’s a 100% sure about his decision.

It is surely the riskier of the two moves; it could be beginning of his end as a Formula One driver much like Timo Glock when he decided to race for Virgin back in 2010 and to go further back in history, Jacques Villeneuve.

But it could also help him grow with the team as a unit and it could work as a symbiotic relationship and one that could go on for years making them hungrier for more and more success as the years go by. Michael Schumacher is one of those who managed to turn Ferrari into what it is today and on a similar level with what Sebastian Vettel did for Red Bull.

Romain would certainly be hoping for the latter although his intentions of growing with the team are somewhat unclear as he’s poised to be evaluated as a potential replacement for Kimi in 2017 for the Italian marquee while he races at Haas.

As a driver, Romain is surely an asset to any team with his years of experience and his raw talent and speed. A cat is said to have nine lives, Grosjean certainly had two when he was resigned by Lotus in 2012 after his disastrous attempt with Renault in 2009. He took a certain amount of time to calm himself down but when he did, boy did he drive the wheels of that Lotus, with podiums scattered all over 2012 and 2013.

He really did emerge as a matured grown up, who knows his limits and knows how to deliver the goods when need be. If lady luck is with him, hope to see him compete with Verstappen for that seat at Scuderia Ferrari in 2017 along with many others hoping to race for the Italians and with Ferrari reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez topping the list of candidates in line for the second seat at Haas, we are hoping for fireworks in the mid-field for 2016 and an even sillier silly season regarding the driver movements for 2017.