Romain Grosjean will race in the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, the team confirmed Feb. 3.
Grosjean will pilot the No. 51 car on the road and street courses.
He joins INDYCAR after competing in Formula 1 for the past nine seasons, earning 10 podiums throughout his career. He’s recovering from injuries suffered in a harrowing crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix last November.
“I’m very excited for this opportunity to race in the United States in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” Grosjean said in a team release. “I had different options in front of me for this coming season and choosing to go IndyCar Racing was definitively my favorite one. Although, I’m not ready yet to take on the ovals! IndyCar has a much more level playing field than what I have been used to in my career so far. It will be exciting to challenge for podiums and wins again. My left hand is still healing, but we are just about ready to get back into the race car and to start this next chapter of my career.”
Grosjean’s best finishes of runner up came in 2012 and 2013 while driving for the Lotus F1 Team. He competed for Haas F1 Team from 2016-2020.
“We’ve been talking to Romain for some time now, even before his accident at Bahrain,” team owner Dale Coyne said. “He has shown interest in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the past several months and we’re very happy that he has chosen to pursue his career with us and excited to welcome a driver with his pedigree to America, the Series and our team. We feel that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the Series.”
It is not yet known who will drive the No. 51 on the oval events. DCR with RWR is also fielding the No. 52 car on a part-time basis. Meanwhile, Ed Jones will pilot the No. 18 car for DCR with Vasser Sullivan.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.