Romain Grosjean: the real F1 comeback story

This weekend’s European GP will be special for Romain Grosjean. For it was in Valencia in 2009 that the French driver had made his Formula One debut. Not that his debut was in any ways memorable. In fact, the seven starts he had in 2009 were all disappointing to say the least, with a 13th place finish being his best. However, Grosjean’s career journey between 2009 and 2012 European GP races has been nothing short of remarkable. Three years on at the same venue, he is now one of the favourites to win the race, having secured a second place at the last race in Canada. Grosjean was drafted into a Renault F1 car three years ago as a replacement to Nelson Piquet Jr. who parted ways with the team mid season. The first race was an indicator of the struggles ahead for the debutant. The 2009 Renault F1 car was far from being the best. It was even proving to be quite a handful for the double world champion Fernando Alonso (who finished 9th in drivers’ standings that year). [caption id=“attachment_354976” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“AFP”] [/caption] Grosjean finished 15th in his first race and 15th, 16th, 13th, 18th in the remaining six races with two retirements. In between, the team was mired in the ‘Crashgate’ scandal controversy, the revelations of which surfaced following Piquet Jr’s exit. Following such a difficult first season, Grosjean found himself without a F1 drive for 2010. It is mentally very difficult for someone who has raced in Formula One to climb down and race in lower category with the same motivation level. However, Grosjean signed himself for the 2011 GP2 season. It was a crucial year for him as success or failure would shape his Formula One comeback. He performed brilliantly to win the GP2 championship in a convincing fashion. His win not only demonstrated his driving skills and will to fight but also his increased maturity and patience. Though returning to F1 was a goal, it wasn’t a certainty. It is very difficult to return to F1 once you leave it. In fact, Grosjean was even looking at DTM as an option. However, he got his chance with a solid team like Lotus F1 for 2012. Grosjean was finally able to show what he was made up of. He retired in the first two races of the season but not before putting up impressive qualifying performances (3rd in Australia and 7th in Malaysia). In the four races he has finished this year, he has managed 6th, 3rd, 4th and 2nd place finishes with the last result coming in Montreal where he finished just two and half seconds behind the winner Lewis Hamilton. Had it not been for his retirements, he would surely have been fighting for the top spot in the championship. Even now, he is in 7th place just two points behind his superstar teammate Kimi Raikkonen and 25 points (worth one race win) behind the points leader Hamilton. By securing a podium finish in Bahrain, he became the first French driver to do so since Jean Alesi in 1998. Can he now emulate the other, and more illustrious, Frenchman Alain Prost? More importantly, will be emerge as the 8th different winner at Valencia? It seems the script is tailor-made for Grosjean.