Dale Coyne Racing has signed a contract with the French former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean for a brief return to racing in 2025.
World in Sport’s Ayla Vaughan explores the elements of Grosjean’s new contract and evaluates his past performances in IndyCar.
Details of the new contract
Dale Coyne Racing announced on Friday, February 13, that Romain Grosjean will return to IndyCar in 2026 with the team he started at. Grosjean will drive in the No. 18 Honda alongside rookie and the 2025 INDY NXT champion Dennis Hauger.
The Frenchman will hope to beat his Norwegian team-mate since he has more experience driving on the tracks on the race calendar. Furthermore, Grosjean will be eager to start this new chapter of his career by racing full-time once again, after sitting on the sidelines last year as Prema Racing’s reserve driver.
The 39-year-old driver responded to this announcement on social media with a cheeky reply saying “he never left” showing his keen attitude to compete as soon as possible. He will bring along his many fans to watch the sport once again, cheering for the Frenchman to show his talent to the world. It is currently unknown how long his contract is, but Grosjean hopes to continue racing for as long as possible and to end his career on a high.
Dale Coyne, team owner, said to IndyCar:
“Pairing an exceptional rookie in Dennis with a proven veteran like Romain gives us a strong competitive foundation.
“Bringing back key pieces of our history while building new global partnerships positions us well for 2026.”
His previous achievements in IndyCar
After leaving F1 with a fiery crash in Bahrain in 2020, Grosjean has been competing in IndyCar ever since. He signed with Dale Coyne Racing in 2021 and amazed viewers and commentators alike with his adaptability and rookie success. He finished on the podium three times that year and even earned pole position at the IMS Road Course, showing his strength as a racing driver and his ability to perform under pressure.
Also, the Frenchman’s qualifying was great, often getting into the final stages to fight for pole. He ended the season with 272 points, making him 15th in the driver’s standings, an impressive feat for the ‘Phoenix’.
Following this, he then moved to Andretti Global for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, where he drove alongside Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Devlin DeFrancesco. His time on this powerhouse team started out well, with a podium finish at Long Beach and almost a win. Grosjean struggled a bit more in 2022 due to bad luck and on-track contact with several drivers.
The next year was somewhat better, as he scored two podiums for the team, but he didn’t make a major improvement or impress the team. In both seasons, the Frenchman finished 13th in the drivers’ standings, which ultimately led the team to sign another driver for 2024.
Lastly, he drove for Juncos Hollinger Racing in 2024 alongside the three drivers Agustín Canapino, Nolan Siegel, and Conor Daly. This was a blow to the 39-year-old driver, who had moved from one of the big teams to one of the smallest, with less IndyCar knowledge and experience.
Unfortunately, his bad luck and poor performance continued, with only six top-ten finishes that year in 18 races. He ultimately left the team, seeing no future for himself there.