The news of Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes at the end of 2024 has taken F1 by storm even before the campaign gets underway. One of the biggest questions related to this shock move is – who will replace the seven-time world champion? Well, not many can expect a Mercedes drive so easily but there was someone who was promised a drive once, and that driver is Romain Grosjean.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff promised Grosjean a test session on the Mercedes W10 at Circuit Paul Ricard in France back in 2021 after the latter suffered a horrific crash that prevented him from ending his F1 career on his terms. Unfortunately, that test session never took place, with COVID-19 becoming a reason initially.
It has been nearly four years now, and Grosjean still hasn’t heard from Wolff. However, even the former Haas driver has been busy in IndyCar and his other racing ventures after F1. Now, with Hamilton leaving Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season, Grosjean felt it was the perfect opportunity to joke about this.
On his Instagram account, Grosjean posted a picture of himself suited up as a Mercedes driver, with the caption, “Maybe time to give a phone call to Toto.”
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Grosjean last drove in F1 back in 2020, with his exit being one of the most infamous moments in recent times. In his penultimate race for Haas, his car crashed into the barriers and went up in flames, scaring the entire F1 paddock and viewers back home.
As of 2023, Mercedes was still planning on giving Grosjean this drive according to Race Fans. Their immediate focus right now, however, will be to hire a replacement for Hamilton.
Who will Mercedes hire to replace Lewis Hamilton?
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari will surely shake up the F1 driver market. Mercedes has to hire someone, and replacing a driver of Hamilton’s caliber won’t be easy. One of the first names that came up was that of Carlos Sainz himself – the man whom Hamilton is replacing at Ferrari.
But there doesn’t seem to be any concrete link between Mercedes and the Spaniard. He is reportedly closer to a move to Audi, who have been interested in him for some time.
Bottas back to Mercedes….
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) February 1, 2024
Other names who have been linked include Fernando Alonso and even former driver Valtteri Bottas. The two-time world champion Alonso, will surely be a good addition to the Brackley-based outfit, as Alonso remains more motivated than ever to succeed.
As for Grosjean’s phone call, the Frenchman was surely joking and didn’t consider himself a part of Mercedes’ plans.
