Romain Grosjean admits he was “amazed” by Mercedes’ operation at Brackley, ahead of his test later this month.
The former Haas driver, who now races in IndyCar, will complete a full day of running at Paul Ricard in the 2019 car on June 29, although a planned demo at the French Grand Prix was cancelled due to the race being rescheduled.
Grosjean’s opportunity is thanks to team boss Toto Wolff, who immediately offered him the chance for a final outing in a Formula 1 car shortly after his horrific crash last year in Bahrain.
A gesture the Frenchman is very grateful for.
“It’s a classy, very classy move from Mercedes, from Toto mentioning it in the media and then making it happen,” Romain told The Race‘s IndyCar podcast.
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“Mercedes, it is an incredible team. I am having one of the very rare opportunities you have in your life to drive one of the fastest cars ever built in Formula 1 – for fun, for yourself – with the best ever racing team in Formula 1.
“Mercedes, they’ve got that class image that they say something and they do it, and people are amazed by it.
“For all of us, it’s a beautiful story and obviously I can’t wait.”
Last month, Grosjean began preparation by visiting the Mercedes base in Brackley, and was very quickly blown away by what he saw.
“I got to the factory and I was amazed by the factory, the facilities, the way people are working around it,” he told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“I mean, after five minutes within Mercedes in Brackley, I could understand easily why they were the most successful sports team in history. Find another team, whatever sport, that has been winning as much as Mercedes has done. It is almost impossible.
“Therefore, getting in there and seeing and understanding it, it is very clear and even though this year everyone in Bahrain testing was like ‘Red Bull is faster,’ here we go, with five races done, Mercedes has won three, Red Bull two.
“That is the strength of that team. They may not have the fastest car but they will always find a solution around that and you feel it when you are there.”
Grosjean was also surprised by how open Mercedes has been to him, given the usual secretive nature of F1 teams.
“I got the chance to test their simulator and realised how far advanced they are,” he added.
“The team opened every door for me, explained how every switch on the steering wheel worked. I was happy and even surprised by this approach.
“Actually I am amazed at their openness. They told me everything. They said ‘We will try everything. Everything will be like a race weekend’.”
Certainly, it will be a great moment when Grosjean gets the F1 farewell he deserves later this month.