Grosjean, who led his first-ever training as a driver for Andretti, ahead of teammate Coltan Hertha, explained his “renaissance” through IndyCar after ten seasons in Formula One that ended in a horrific crash in Bahrain.
“It was amazing,” said Grosjean, who was recognized by fans as number 1. After just one year at IndyCar, being the most popular driver was incredible.
“I have a story, I came with 10 years in Formula 1, a fire and a return to racing at IndyCar, opening the championship where I think it was the other way around. I use “Phoenix” as a nickname not because of the fire, it is due to the rebirth of myself through IndyCar, with pleasure and enjoyment. “
Conducted in 11 languages on the Motorsport.com platform and received reviews from more than 53,000 fans in 147 countries, Grosjean was named the most popular race driver: 32% of fans ranked him in the top three and almost 12% of fans named him their favorite. the driver.
Grosjean added: “Fans give me so much and I tried to bring back all my experience in the States while riding in my van, eating too many donuts, barbecues on the first of January in Florida, which is amazing.
“I’m almost the same American as Colton. My pronunciation is still a bit French, but I’m working on it. He does the same hairstyle as I did when I was his peer! ”
At the only training session on Friday, Grosjean said he has a solid base to work on until the end of the weekend before the season opening race.
“It felt good, the car worked well,” he said. “Obviously the traffic there is pretty big, but it’s nice to put on our knees and we conducted a few test items to read.
“I think we have a very, very strong baseline, but I think a little bit more if we put it all together. Hopefully we can find that and have fun by the end of the weekend.”