Romain Grosjean admits he has been surprised by his and Haas’ rapidly growing popularity in the United States after signing with the American team for 2016.
The Frenchman was confirmed as the F1 newcomers’ first driver last month during a press conference at the squad's North Carolina home base. Travelling to Austin for this weekend’s US Grand Prix, the soon-to-be ex-Lotus racer was able to measure the enthusiasm that is already surrounding the Haas venture.
“I flew from Paris to Dallas, stopped in Dallas and I don’t know how many pictures I did there,” said Grosjean. “It was crazy that the fans, people were already recognising me. There’s a lot of support coming from the US.
“Everyone is very excited to have an American Formula One Team. That’s great. It can be very nice for F1, for Haas and for me.”
“Everyone is wishing me good luck for this year but they’re already looking forward to next year.
“They’re very much behind the team. They are very patriotic and it’s good.”
Asked by F1i whether he thought he would receive such a warm welcome, Grosjean replied: “It was massively unexpected”.
Although the identity of Grosjean’s future team-mate has yet to be revealed, all signs point towards Ferrari test driver Esteban Gutierrez given Haas’ strong technical partnership with Maranello and the ex-Sauber man's nationality.
With the returning Mexican Grand Prix scheduled back-to-back with the COTA event, the official announcement could be made fairly soon, especially after team principal Günther Steiner substantiated Gutierrez’ confirmation.
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