Grosjean says return to Renault in 2021 'would be a nice story'

Romain Grosjean is committed to Haas until the end of the season, but the Frenchman is starting to weigh his prospects for the future, with an eye on a vacant seat at Renault.

The announcement of Sebastian Vettel's exit from Ferrari at the end of this year sparked a whirlwind of changes and speculation, with Carlos Sainz taking the German's place at the Scuderia and Daniel Ricciardo leaving Renault for McLaren.

Both Vettel and Fernando Alonso have been linked to the French outfit, but insiders doubt either driver is very enthusiastic about the idea of racing in the midfield in 2021.

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Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul says the team is in no hurry to decide its future line-up, but Grosjean, speaking on an ESPN podcast, might well soon have a chat with his countryman.

"There were a few surprises -- the big one was Sebastian and then there were choices made that I would have probably made different, but I understand and it's been fun to watch," Grosjean said, commenting events of late in the drivers' market.

"Obviously, Carlos going to Ferrari and then there was a good seat at McLaren and that was a nice opportunity for Ricciardo and still one seat at Renault that could be attractive for the future.

"But again, with the cost cap, we are hoping that more teams could be great and I think Racing Point is on a really good path from what we saw in winter testing, they are really competitive and have done great work with Mercedes, so there will be some good teams to look for in the future.

"The driver market has been interesting, there are a few seats left around, but I think everyone will take a little bit of time to look at it."

As a reminder, the 34-year-old was promoted to F1 by Renault in the second half of the 2009 season following the firing of Nelson Piquet Jr.

It was but a seven-race spell however, with Grosjean only handed a full-time seat in 2012, with Enstone-based Lotus.

A return to the team that nurtured his talent would appeal to the Frenchman who conquered 10 podiums with Lotus.

"It would be a nice story," he admitted. "I spent 10 years at Enstone and they funded most of my career, and obviously the last podium of Enstone is mine!

"I think it would be nice to go back there, but it would also be nice to stay at Haas or to try another team. We haven't even done a race, but we are already talking about next year, which is a bit strange.

"But also we are getting into mid-June and early July, which is the start of the silly season, so I don't know, I think first we go back racing, see how the car behaves.

"I will try to do my best and see if my level is still where I want it to be and then we will start discussing and chatting and seeing what we can do."

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