Romain Grosjean made a long-awaited return to the cockpit of a Formula 1 car on Friday as part of a special test session with his former team Haas at the Mugello Circuit in Italy.
Grosjean last drove F1 machinery at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix when he dramatically crashed through the barriers on the opening lap – engulfing the car in flames and leaving him with burns to both hands.
However, that has now changed thanks to Haas arranging for him to make an emotional comeback this week during a Testing of Previous Car (TPC) event.
Early on Friday morning, at the Florence-based Mugello track that hosted the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix, Grosjean rolled out of the pit lane aboard the VF-23 to get the test under way – the Frenchman wearing the helmet designed by his children that he’d intended to wear at the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which was set to be his final F1 race.
Grosjean is being joined at the test by F1 TV broadcaster James Hinchcliffe, who is set to drive the same VF-23 as part of a feature for F1 TV – while also in attendance were Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur and now-Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, who reprised his role as Grosjean’s race engineer.
Check out a selection of photographs from Grosjean’s F1 test return in the gallery above.