© Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes announced that Romain Grosjean’s planned Paul Ricard test has been postponed due to travel restrictions between France and the United States.
Originally, after Grosjean’s fiery crash in 2020, Toto Wolff offered him the opportunity to test Mercedes’ 2019 car, the W10, on two occasions.
Firstly, he was set to do a demo run during the French Grand Prix weekend, but this had to be cancelled because when the French Grand Prix was moved to this weekend, it clashed with his Indycar commitments.
Secondly, he was set to do a private test at Paul Ricard on June 29, but it has now been postponed due to travel restrictions between France and the United States.
Mercedes announced the postponement on its social media channels.
“We’re disappointed to announce that [Romain Grosjean’s] Mercedes test has been postponed because of travel restrictions and quarantine requirements,” read Mercedes’ statement.
“We’re committed to giving Romain his chance in a Mercedes F1 car and we’re working to reschedule the test later this summer.”
During his appearance on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Grosjean explained he found out about Mercedes’ offer while he was in the hospital, recovering from his fiery crash.
“Well it was all Toto,” said the French driver.
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“You know, when I was in my hospital bed in Bahrain, someone was helping me to open the things on my mobile phone, because I didn’t have any fingers to use.
“And then friends told me ‘Oh, Toto says you could have a test in a Mercedes if you don’t make it back to Abu Dhabi’. And I’m like, oh okay, that is super cool.
“Obviously, at the time, I really liked it. But I wanted to come back to Abu Dhabi until the day it wasn’t going to happen.
“And then I went back home, had a bit of recovery and then eventually got a call from Mercedes.
“It is an incredible chance. Just for few things. I’m still a Formula 1 fan. I still watch the races. I have been driving it, but now I get to drive the 2019 world champion car, which at the end is not too far from the 2020, which was probably the fastest Formula 1 car ever built.
“And I drive it without pressure, without having a test day to complete few test things and go through a programme and so on.
“Yes, we can have a programme, but it’s more [like] let’s go and have some fun,” concluded Grosjean.
