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2 1the series, and the sport has already felt its impact. F1 has
a long, rich history of failing to capture the U.S. market,
but the show has caused interest to boom Stateside.
More than 400,000 people f locked to Austin in October
for the United States’ only F1 race, up from 258,000 in- Television viewership has increased each season
since the show began, tickets sold out for a new race in
Miami in a matter of minutes and rumors are circulating
about the possible addition of a third U.S. race soon. Not
long ago, drivers could remain at least semi-anonymous
Stateside. Now, Grosjean and members
of his cohort are often stopped for self-
ies and autographs.
The Frenchman was a central
character in all three seasons of the
series, which began following the 2018
season—Grosjean’s third with Haas.
Joining the new U.S. team in ’16 was a
natural next step for him after a junior
career that rivaled Hamilton’s and a
surprisingly successful four-year stint
at Lotus during which he reached the
podium 10 times.
“It shouldn’t really have been a con-
tending car,” says F1 journalist and de
facto Drive to Survive host Will Buxton.
“It was a testament as to how good a
driver he was.”
Haas purchases its engines from
Ferrari. Had Grosjean won with them,
his familiarity with the Italian giant’s
technology would have made him an
appealing choice for a seat. But Haas’s
car, even with a Ferrari engine, wasn’t
great, and Grosjean took extra risks
to compensate, leading to two tough
seasons in 2016 and ’17 that moved him
off Ferrari’s radar. Though Haas found
some success in ’18, with Grosjean and
teammate Kevin Magnussen carrying
the team to fifth place in the construc-
tors’ championship, the next year it
fell to ninth, and an even worse car in
’20 saw Grosjean finish in the top 10
only once. Midway through the season,
he was informed he wouldn’t have a
seat in ’21.
Grosjean had always been fast. As
Magnussen tells it, “He’s always f lat
out. You never get 99% Romain.
There’s only 100% Romain.” But after
years of failing to live up to his poten-
tial, he began to feel the weight of
that frustration. He’d chase gaps that didn’t exist, and
he developed a reputation as an aggressive—or even
reckless—driver.
This wasn’t how Grosjean’s story was supposed to go.
He had the talent, along with that something special:
that thing that only racing drivers are born with that tells
them to take a car to its limits. Had a few breaks gone
his way, Grosjean could have been a world champion.
Instead, he was out of the sport.
After a decade behind the wheel, his F1 career was79 SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR 2021MI
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“A moment comes where you think
YOU’RE GOING TO DIE,” says Grosjean of
his wreck. “I thought that was it.”