Grosjean: IndyCar ‘way faster’ than F1… in certain corners

Formula 1 is the pinnacle of speed, but former Haas charger and IndyCar returnee Romain Grosjean believes the American machines can outshine F1 cars in certain corners.

After a year on the sidelines, the 39-year-old Frenchman is returning full-time to IndyCar this season with Dale Coyne Racing, the squad that first handed him a lifeline after the fiery 2020 Bahrain GP crash that ended his F1 career.

And Grosjean has made a bold claim what he believes IndyCar does better.

‘Way Faster Than Formula 1’

Having sampled an F1 car again last year, following an outing with Haas last summer at Mugello, Grosjean insists the philosophies of the two series could not be more different.

“The biggest difference is that in Formula 1 you focus on not sliding at all and getting on throttle very early to get a really good run out of the corners,” he explained, speaking to Off Track.

“You have 1,000 horsepower pushing you, so that’s where you get the lap time.

“In IndyCar, it’s a bit different. It’s more about the entry speed, the minimum speed and getting on throttle when you can and make it out of corner. I would say driving-wise that’s the difference.

“My favourite part of IndyCar is how capable it is to do the low-speed corners on a street course with the dampers that we have, the grip that we use.”

Then came the punchline – a comparison guaranteed to ruffle feathers in the F1 paddock.

“If we take Monaco, the last corner, the hairpin, an IndyCar would be way faster than Formula 1 in there,” he added, referring to the low-speed mechanical grip of the American machines.

Admittedly, boasting that an IndyCar can beat a multi-million dollar engineering marvel in a 30-mph hairpin – essentially the tightest turn on the F1 calendar – is a relatively limp claim to fame.

A Championship He ‘Loves’

Far from sounding nostalgic about F1, Grosjean is relishing his return to America’s premier single-seater series.

“It’s a championship that I love and that I’ve had a lot of fun in,” Grosjean said. “Dale is a character that I absolutely adore, or love, I don’t know what’s the right word. But I’m just glad to be back there.

“We have a good team. I’m excited to be racing along with Dennis Hauger, I think he’s a very fast young kid, and also make the most of my last few years of singer seaters.”

Reverting to Formula 1 and to the series’ new era and radical regulation changes, Grosjean is cautious.

“We’ll have to see race one. On paper I’m a bit worried, but I think the teams will figure it out,” he said.

“I think that the beauty of it is going to change the order quite a lot and we could see a lot of action in the race. Is it going to be the action that we want to see?

“That’s the question that we have wait [and see] for the first few races.”

For now, though, his message is clear: when the walls close in and the speed drops, IndyCar might just have the edge.

Read also: Grosjean gets ovation after rainy, joyful return to F1 at Mugello

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