Verstappen promotion rules out Ferrari move - Grosjean

Romain Grosjean acknowledges Max Verstappen is unlikely to be a rival for a Ferrari seat in future following his promotion to Red Bull.

Verstappen replaces Daniil Kvyat from this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix having previously been linked with both Ferrari and Mercedes if he were to leave Toro Rosso. Grosjean has also been suggested as a replacement for Kimi Raikkonen if the Finn does not sign a new contract at the end of the season, and he admits Verstappen's move to Red Bull means it is likely he has one less competitor.

"Well let me put it this way, if Red Bull put him in the car they are making sure he is going to stay with the team," Grosjean said. "Again, at the minute, the best we can do is do a good job with Haas, keep improving, making the story successful.

"We have 17 grands prix left and I want to be in Abu Dhabi and thinking what we have done with Haas is something big, history of racing, and then we see what is happening."

Asked if he would be free to replace Raikkonen at Ferrari mid-season if asked, the Frenchman was keen to point out the scenario is very different to that at Red Bull.

"I think it’s a different situation because it is not the same owner, it’s not Team A and Team B. We are Haas F1 Team and they are Ferrari. It’s not like Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

"I’ve jumped in the car midseason once and it was tough. You can’t say no, it’s a fact, but we’re having a good time here and I really want to try and get on the podium once."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.