On Thursday morning it was announced that Romain Grosjean has joined Juncos Hollinger Racing for the 2024 IndyCar season. He will partner Agustín Canapino following the departure of Callum Ilott from the squad last month.
Next year will be the 37-year-old’s fourth season in the North American series. It’ll be with a third different team.
The 10-time F1 podium finished opened arbitration proceedings against Andretti Autosport last month following his departure from the team after spending two seasons with the squad.
Speaking in a video press conference that included Pit Debrief, Grosjean spoke about when talks started with Ricardo Juncos. The first chat came at the penultimate round of 2023 at Portland International Raceway.
“Yeah, pretty late in the year. I think the first discussion was Portland, then Laguna Seca, then post-Laguna with Ricardo. Got to a point where we found an agreement. Excited to go racing again in INDYCAR. As you know, I really enjoy the series. I really enjoy the atmosphere.
“Of course, it’s a new challenge, a bit different than the last two years. I mean, I’m excited about trying to keep building the momentum of Juncos. I think the last few races they’ve done really well. Excited to see what we can do together.
“I think on top of joining a new team, it will be a challenge for all of us, but nothing that we’re scared of.”
2023 saw things get out of hand twice on social media as a section of Canapino fans attacked and abused Callum Ilott for incidents with the Argentinan driver at Long Beach and Laguna Seca. This ultimately played a huge role in the British driver leaving the team by mutual consent last week.
Grosjean was asked if things will be calmer next year considering his history of showing strong emotions.
“Well, I try to avoid explosion as much as I can (smiling).
“We’ll see. I think time will tell. I’m aware of all the questions. I think that’s a big talking point right now. We may be surprised in good, we may be surprised in bad.
“I think we’ll see. I’ll do my best on my end for sure. I’ll try to improve. I think you can always improve in life. Thanks God I’m not perfect.
“I also feel like it could be a different atmosphere and feeling, ongoing relationship with Juncos. So far I’ve really enjoyed the time I spent with Ricardo. I got lucky to spend quite a bit of time with him in Austin during the Formula 1 weekend, which was nice.
“I think we’re aware of that potential situation, so we’ll do our best on each end.”
Grosjean has bagged pole positions and podiums during his spells at Dale Coyne Racing and Andretti Autosport, but he has yet to grab that illusive victory.
Asked by Pit Debrief if he thinks he can fight at the front with Juncos Hollinger Racing in spite of their lack of resources compared to Andretti, Grosjean says the journey and work to get into that position is what matters.
“We’ll see. Only time will tell us. Only time will tell us.
“I think first to achieve poles or victories, it’s not so much achieving it, it’s what you achieve on the way, the work that you do to get there. We have to start with the first steps and move on and get everything together and everything right, especially in INDYCAR.
“You score pole for few hundredths of a second, that’s going super quick on the track. It’s all about the way you get to your pole or your win. It’s not about getting the win.”
Photo credit: Penske Entertainment | Joe Skibinski
