Romain Grosjean hailed for "cool" approach to IndyCar career

Romain Grosjean

Grosjean hailed for "cool" approach to IndyCar career

Ian Parkes & Jan Bolscher

Tuesday 18 May 2021 16:28

Romain Grosjean has been hailed for his "cool" approach to his new IndyCar career by the driver who pipped him to victory at the weekend.

In only his third race in the series following his departure from F1 at the end of last season, Grosjean claimed pole before being beaten in the race by Dutch driver Rinus VeeKay by 4.9secs.

It was a remarkable performance from Grosjean that had second-year racer VeeKay proclaiming himself "very impressed" with how the 35-year-old Frenchman is doing.

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"IndyCar is no step back from Formula 1, far from it," said VeeKay in an interview with GPFans' Dutch language site following his maiden IndyCar victory.

"It’s cool to see how he adapts and how much he enjoys it. That’s the great thing about IndyCar. Everyone has a chance to win. It doesn’t matter what team you drive for.

"It’s very different in Formula 1. He obviously couldn’t even think about getting a victory with Haas."

VeeKay highlighted one aspect of Grosjean's F1 career, in particular, that has so far stood him in good stead in IndyCar.

"He has a lot of experience in terms of tyre management, you can see he is very good at that," added VeeKay.

"However, he has a different kind of experience with that than we have. IndyCar is very different from Formula 1. A lot more can happen in IndyCar, you need to be prepared for that."

One of the remarkable aspects of VeeKay's victory was that it was five years ago to the day since fellow Dutchman Max Verstappen won his first race in F1 on what was his debut with Red Bull by taking the chequered flag in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Jokingly suggested to VeeKay that May 15 should perhaps become a public holiday in the Netherlands, he replied: "I think so! It’s really cool how coincidental that is.

"Perhaps it’s a sign that it’s becoming a very important date for the Netherlands. Five years after Max wins in Formula 1, I win in IndyCar. It’s very cool that it went like that."