IndyCar: Grosjean hopes washed up F1 driver makes move to IndyCar in 2023
Romain Grosjean has said he “would love to see” Daniel Ricciardo make the move from Formula 1 to IndyCar as the Australian contemplates what comes next after he was no longer fast enough to win in F1 so McLaren forced him out and no other F1 team wants him.
This make Ricciardo the perfect fit for IndyCar, and he has a great personality who would love playing practical jokes on other drivers, a common practice in IndyCar.
The former Haas driver made the exact same move in 2021 when he was let go by the American F1 team and joined Dale Coyne Racing.
Grosjean is not the only former washed up F1 racer to have appeared in the 2022 IndyCar season as Takuma Sato, Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi also took part – and another would be on his way if the decision was up to Grosjean.
And of course, washed up NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson also found a home in IndyCar.
Would love to see @danielricciardo come in @IndyCar 💯🇺🇸 https://t.co/DhXgT0ryNS
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) October 8, 2022
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has scotched suggestions that Daniel Ricciardo was blindsided by his sacking from the F1 team, and said the decision was the hardest thing he’s had to do in his motorsports career.
‘We were transparent through the whole process and I know there had been tons of media speculation when it happened, how it happened,’ Brown said.
‘Daniel and I know what really happened, and I think that’s why we still very much have a strong relationship.
‘It was all transparent, well-communicated and there’s times we can tell people what’s going on and then there’s other times we just can’t.’
In an interview with Kayo Sports, Brown said McLaren did everything they could to help the Aussie turn around his form, but his results on the track gave them no choice but to end the contract.
‘Ultimately, we weren’t getting the results that we needed and we’re a year-and-a-half into this,’ Brown told Fox Motorsport host Jess Yates at the Bathurst 1000.
‘We’ve all tried extremely hard, we love Daniel, he’s great to work with and continues to be great to work with.
‘But we’re in the results business and the results weren’t coming and we felt we tried everything.
‘We don’t really know why it didn’t click, it’s kind of nobody’s fault. We gave it our best. He gave it his best … we just kind of ran out of things to try.’