Mercedes willing to fulfil Grosjean test dream this year

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed to Romain Grosjean his desire to still fulfil a test promise made to the Frenchman.

Wolff initially made the pledge following Grosjean's fireball crash during the Bahrain Grand Prix towards the end of 2020 that saw him sustain burns to his hands and miss the final two races of that season before retiring from F1.

Grosjean was due to drive the 2019 W10 in a demo run ahead of the French Grand Prix last year followed by a full test outing two days after the race at the Paul Ricard circuit.

The 35-year-old, however, was forced to postpone the outing due to his commitments to IndyCar and the Road America race that clashed that weekend.

Grosjean, though, has revealed he has not been forgotten by Wolff after recently contacting the Austrian.

“I sent a message to Toto after Abu Dhabi [the final race of the 2021 season]," said Grosjean, speaking at an IndyCar media day ahead of the new season.

"Well, I let a few weeks go by and then I sent a message and he did reply. He said 'Thank you', and then the last sentence was ‘We need to get you in that car this year’, so it’s still on the cards."

As to a date this year, that remains open as Grosjean has revealed the French Grand Prix another throws up another clash with IndyCar.

Grosjean, who switches to Andretti Autosport from Dale Coyne Racing for the new campaign added: “There were a few things last year that didn’t make it easy.

"This year I cannot go to the French Grand Prix because we are racing in Iowa the same weekend.

“But Mercedes is keen to do it, I am keen to do it even though my neck will be dying because I’ve lost part of the muscle there.

“But we still want to do it. And if it happens, great, but the main focus is now trying to win races with Andretti.”

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