Mercedes forced to delay Grosjean test over travel restrictions

Mercedes’ offer to Romain Grosjean of a full day of testing in the 2019 championship-winning W10 was one of the feelgood stories to come out of the Frenchman’s horrific 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix crash. But the team have been forced to postpone Grosjean’s test over travel and quarantine restrictions, with the two parties now trying to find a date for the outing later this summer.

Grosjean, now competing in the United States in the IndyCar series, had been due to test the Mercedes W10 at Paul Ricard on June 29 – a gesture from Mercedes designed to allow 10-time podium finisher Grosjean to finish off his Formula 1 career in style, having been unable to contest the final two races of 2020 for Haas due to his injuries, the French driver having suffered burns to his hands in the crash.

LISTEN: Grosjean opens up on dealing with Bahrain crash flashbacks – and how his psychologist helped him in the aftermath

But although the Silver Arrows had previously confirmed that Grosjean’s Paul Ricard test would still go ahead despite the shifting around of the French Grand Prix’ dates, with just under two weeks to go, Mercedes were forced to revise their plans, citing issues with “travel restrictions and quarantine requirements” – but underlining that they were “working to reschedule the test later this summer”.

Reacting to the news on Twitter, meanwhile, Grosjean – who has already claimed his first pole position and podium in the IndyCar series at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis – joked: “Just waiting for the latest aero update to come.”