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Romain Grosjean Is Joining Andretti Autosport

Photo credit: Icon Sportswire - Getty Images
Photo credit: Icon Sportswire - Getty Images

Romain Grosjean's year in IndyCar has been one of racing's best stories. He has been a star on track, but the bigger story might just be how delightful he is off-track. The former F1 driver has given the series rave reviews, including a post-race interview just last week where he praised the category's commitment to all-out racing and parity above tire conservation and engineering excellence. After three podiums in a road-and-street program for Dale Coyne Racing, he is ready to make his next leap. Andretti Autosport has just announced that Grosjean will be joining their championship-winning program for the entire 2022 IndyCar season.

He will take up the No. 28 DHL Honda entry, the car that Ryan Hunter-Reay drove to the 2012 series championship and a win in the 2014 Indianapolis 500. It will be his first season in a championship-caliber car in any series since he took the 2011 GP2 (now Formula 2) championship by a startling 45 points.

Grosjean first dipped his toes into oval racing with an electric one-off start at Gateway earlier this year, but next year he will run every oval race on the schedule and attempt to qualify for his first Indianapolis 500. One of his teammates, Alexander Rossi, won the 2016 edition of that race for Andretti Autosport the year after leaving Formula 1 himself.

His form in those oval races will play a significant part in determining how his season goes, but Grosjean will enter the 2022 season as an expected championship contender and could be in position to win races on a weekly basis. His career-best finish through 12 races at DCR is second, achieved twice at the Indianapolis road course. He also finished on the podium last Sunday to cap off an electric weekend that saw him crash a pace car, drive up through the field in his race car, and slam the sidepod of 7-time NASCAR series champion Jimmie Johnson while lapping him through the legendary Corkscrew.

The announcement comes less than ten months after a harrowing Formula 1 crash that left him with significant burns, but that moment gave him a new nickname, too. "The Phoenix" will make his Andretti Autosport debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on February 27 of next year.

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