F1 star brought to tears by emotional team return

Racing star Romain Grosjean has revealed that he got emotional after being handed the chance to return to the cockpit of an F1 car this week.

The now 39-year-old suffered a horrific crash on the opening lap of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix that saw his Haas VF-20 split in half and set alight.

After colliding with the barriers, Grosjean and the vehicle were left engulfed in flames, with the moment gaining notoriety thanks to Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.

Miraculously, he walked away from the wreck after sitting at the centre of the fireball for 28 seconds, but it marked the last time Grosjean would compete in a grand prix after sustaining second-degree burns on both hands.

Now, five years on from his career-ending F1 crash, the French-Swiss driver has returned to the track in an F1 car, piloting the Haas VF-23 from their 2023 campaign.

Grosjean on Haas reunion: "They made me cry!"

The Frenchman took part in the TPC programme (Testing of Previous Car) test at the Mugello Circuit in Italy on Friday, where he was reunited with Haas F1 team, who he previously raced with for five seasons from 2016 until his crash in 2020.

Speaking after taking to the track in the F1 car, Grosjean said: “Five years after Bahrain, here we are, Mugello, big thanks to Moneygram Haas F1 team, it was a special day of course.

“Gene Haas, Ayao Komatsu, they made it happen, I drove the car, it was a wet day but as we say with weddings, rainy wedding, happy wedding, so it was a rainy day, happy day. Fantastic.

Grosjean is still no stranger to the racing world given his current role as a reserve driver to the Prema IndyCar team and his participation in the North American IMSA SportsCar Championship, but nevertheless, he admitted being 'a bit rusty' at first this week.

“I felt a bit rusty at first and then everything came back. Even got to do a standing start and guess what, my last standing start was Bahrain 2020 so this time it turned out way better," he said.

“Very grateful, very unique opportunity getting to see some of the people that were in Australia 2016 [his first race with Haas] and get to drive the new generation of cars. It was fantastic and, again, I'm very, very grateful. There's just no other words.”

“They made me cry at the end of the day!”

“I kept my visor down, but for my last in-lap, everyone from Ferrari, Red Bull, Pirelli and of course Moneygram Haas F1 team was here, clapping and giving me like an ovation. That's something I was expecting in Abu Dhabi 2020 [his planned F1 farewell], but I think it was even better today.”

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