Romain Grosjean gives clear verdict on retirement from racing
Former F1 driver Romain Grosjean signed with PREMA Racing for the 2025 season, serving the role of the reserve driver for the team. The Frenchman reflected on how being away from a full-time seat has been for him and also gave his verdict on his retirement from racing.
Grosjean featured on the latest episode of The Race IndyCar podcast. The Frenchman turned 39 years old on April 17, 2025, and was asked what it had been like for him to step away from the driver's role, as he got to spend more time with his friends and family.
While Grosjean suggested that he enjoyed time with his family, it also made him realize that he missed racing and that he's not yet ready to step away and hang up his helmet. The PREMA Racing reserve driver said (29:55 onwards):
“It’'s good to also be home and to know and realize that there's actually other opportunities in life and other challenges, other races that are different, you know, businesses and so on. But I think right now I'm not ready to put my helmet on the shelf. I still want to go racing.”
“But taking a bit of a step back has actually been interesting to realize that, you know, I miss it and I'm not ready to give up yet. But the day I decide that I'm done racing, it's not going to be an empty hole. There's going to be plenty,” he added.
Romain Grosjean raced with Juncos Hollinger Racing for the 2024 IndyCar season and was let go by the team at the end of the year. Sting Ray Robb was announced by the team as their first driver for the 2025 season. The second seat was then given to Conor Daly, who filled in for Agustin Canapino midway through the 2024 season.
Romain Grosjean on the rising IndyCar costs that prevented him from finding a seat
IndyCar introduced the hybrid technology midway through the 2024 season. The cost of running a full-time entry was pushed from $6-8M to $10M for the whole season since the hybrid technology was introduced.
Romain Grosjean revealed how the staggering costs pushed the drivers to get more sponsorship money. Speaking about the same in November 2024, the former F1 driver told RACER (via PlanetF1):
“I think last year was probably one of my best seasons, and I may end up not being in the grid next year, just because the marketing has been horrendous for IndyCar, the hybrid has brought the costs to a level that’s unbearable for teams, and that’s the way it is.”
Grosjean's replacement, Conor Daly, also struggled with the sponsorship funds when his sponsor, Polkadot, refused to sponsor the IndyCar driver. However, MannKind recently came out and announced that it will sponsor Daly’s #76 JHR for three races this season.