Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean sat down with FormulaRapida.net to speak about 2020 and 2021, his F1 career, karting association plus future.
Grosjean here opens up about his feelings during the F1 winter testing for 2020 season as he looks back at 2019 as well and how things are shaping up to be. He also talks about 2021, where we will witness big changes in the regulations.
Additionally, he talks about the state of F1, his best/bad moments and later on shifts to talk about his association with Praga in karting as he also discusses his future beyond and how he feels about championships like Formula E and DTM.
Here’s the full and exclusive Q&A with Grosjean:
Q) Just to start, tell us about your feelings this winter testing, are you positive looking at the 2020 F1 season ahead?
Romain Grosjean: “Yes, we’re still going around, so it’s not over and we are testing everything we can in the car, but definitely things are going in the right direction, it’s true that last year we were fast in winter testing but then slower in the race so I don’t think it means that much to be fast or not here.”
Q) The whole grid has worked so hard this winter, you think that Haas can be the fourth best team?
Grosjean: “It is our goal, we will try, I don’t know yet, but we will try it.”
Q) Looking ahead to 2021 regulations, with big changes, how you as a driver and Haas as a team faces a season in terms of development and preparation?
Grosjean: “Certainly the drivers don’t have much to do, we’ve pushed for some changes and regulations and we’re quite happy with what happened. In team terms, obviously, is more a question for Guenther Steiner, he will have to make a lot of important decisions because it’s a big change of regulation, next year is gonna be very different, so it will be interesting.”
Q) Do you think F1 has lost its essence during the last few seasons?
Grosjean: “Not at all. Well, in the amount of overtaking, nowadays we have the highest ever been before, so that’s quite positive, or at least more that in 90’s years. In the other side, Mercedes is doing an amazing job, they are making the sport not too exciting, but they are doing a better job than the others, so it’s up to the other teams to catch up them. Obviously, a team like Haas doesn’t have the same budget and the same resources so we can not really compare it, but they are doing definitely a good job.”
Q) If I am to ask, what will be your best and the worst moment in your F1 career?
Grosjean: “It’s very difficult to pick up one and one after more than 160 GPs, but what can I say… There has been so many moments, but I will say as the best moment my podium at Spa in 2015, and I’ll pick Baku 2018 as my worst moment.”
Q) What is the main difference you find between the F1 when you started and the current one?
Grosjean: “Well, I have had running with and without refueling, with different tyres, with different regulations. Every area has gone up and down, but the nowadays cars are faster then ever before, they are incredibly fast, almost too fast for fighting and overtaking during the race, but they are funny to drive and they are so beautiful, so…every season has its weakness and his strengths.”
Q) Moving to karting and feeder series, we wanted to know about your relationship with Praga Motorsport? And if you have tasted the new 2020 chassis what differences did you spot between this one and the last year one?
Grosjean: “Yes, I have a good relationship with them, but I still haven’t tested this year’s chassis. I drove last year car, and I like it a lot, the brakes are really good and it fits with my driving style, the chassis is not the easiest to drive but I’ve had a good feeling and they always go really fast.”
Q) What advice will you give to the young drivers that want to reach F1 someday?
Grosjean: “For sure. It’s not easy, there are only 20 seats in the world, and the pyramid is very shallow at the end, but keep believing in your dream, do always the best you can, and see what it brings you.”
Q) There are a lot of racing series outside of F1, looking into the future, do you have a special interest to join some of that series?
Grosjean: “Yes, I like endurance, because I consider it as a quite fun championship. Formula E, obviously, is the biggest constructor championship coming in, so it’s interesting, and also the DTM, I’ve always really loved DTM, so it can be one of them. I look forward to the future, and I would like to join some of that series one day.
Here’s Guenther Steiner on avoiding 2019 mistakes
The Q&A has been edited by Darshan Chokhani