Romain Grosjean is a veteran Formula One racing driver who transitioned into the NTT IndyCar Series three years ago. He joined Dale Coyne Racing for his rookie year where he impressed Andretti Autosport enough to hire him the following year. It’s been up and down for the man they call the “Phoenix” (after his fiery crash in Bahrain), especially this year where he’s qualified in the Firestone Fast Six five times, yet only converted that into two podium finishes. We caught up with Grosjean for a brief interview just following the post-race press conference at the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he had just finished second behind his teammate, Kyle Kirkwood (who just won his first race in the series). A podium finish followed this event in Alabama, but since then he’s had a number of poor finishes until a Q6 and P6 qualifying and finishing position on the streets of Nashville. Will he stay with Andretti into 2024? He has four races left in the season to help seal the deal for next year. Enjoy!
By Larry Mason
Copyright © 2023 Larry Mason
Romain greets the crowd with a friendly smile moments before the start of the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Grosjean works his way through Turn 9 in the striking yellow/red livery of his primary sponsor. Notice the tube for airflow into his helmet behind the aeroscreen.
Early in the weekend, Grosjean hustles his car through Turn 10 just a bit ahead of his teammate exiting Turn 9. These two would ultimately swap these positions on the podium Sunday afternoon.
The iconic hairpin of the Long Beach circuit (with that nice skyline in the background) is just part of the challenge to going fast here. One extra mph coming off the hairpin means that you’ll carry that all the way down the long front straight.
As you can see clearly, the front “straight” known as Shoreline Drive is anything but straight. However, it’s an easy flat-out jaunt for Grosjean in front of the packed grandstands during the race.
It wasn’t exactly a drive through the park for Grosjean, but nevertheless was a great weekend for him, qualifying P3 and finishing P2. Notice the P1 sticker on his rear wing for his pole position he earned at St. Pete earlier in the year.
Grosjean is happy to be on the podium at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and happy for his teammate Kyle Kirkwood who took victory for the team. Grosjean is looking to swap places with his teammate and get his first win in the series.
Interview and photos Copyright © by Larry Mason (unless otherwise noted)