Background and career
Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (French pronunciation: [ʁɔmɛ̃ ɡʁoʒɑ̃]; born 17 April 1986) is a French and Swiss racing driver, who competes in the IndyCar Series for Dale Coyne. Grosjean competed under the French flag in Formula One between 2009 and 2020, and the IndyCar Series from 2021 to 2024 and in 2026. Born and raised in Geneva to a Swiss father and French mother, Grosjean is the grandson of Olympic alpine skier Fernand Grosjean and the great-grandson of weapons designer Edgar Brandt. Graduating from kart racing to junior formulae in 2003 under a Swiss license, Grosjean began his career in Formula LO before moving to French Formula Renault in 2004 with SG Formula. He dominated the following season with 10 wins from 16 races. He then progressed to the Formula 3 Euro Series, winning the championship in 2007 amidst a title battle with Sébastien Buemi. Grosjean graduated to the GP2 Series in 2008, finishing fourth in his rookie season and winning the Asia Series. A member of the Renault Sport Academy since 2006, Grosjean debuted in Formula One with Renault at the 2009 European Grand Prix, replacing Nelson Piquet Jr. for the remainder of the 2009 season. He returned to junior formulae in 2010, winning the Auto GP Series, as well as becoming a race-winner in FIA GT1. He then won the GP2 title in 2011, as well as another Asia Series. In 2012, Grosjean returned to Formula One with Lotus alongside Kimi Räikkönen. He took his maiden podium finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, repeating this feat in Canada and Hungary. Grosjean became the first driver to receive a race ban in eighteen years after causing a multi-car collision at the Belgian Grand Prix. He achieved six further podiums in 2013 as he finished a career-best seventh in the World Drivers' Championship. Partnered by Pastor Maldonado in 2014 and 2015, he achieved his final podium at the latter Belgian Grand Prix. Grosjean moved to Haas for his 2016 campaign, ending his ten-year association with Team Enstone. He scored several points finishes in his 2017, 2018 and 2019 campaigns alongside Kevin Magnussen, finishing fourth at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. In 2020, Grosjean survived a crash during the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix—his final race in Formula One—when his VF-20 split and caught fire after penetrating a metal crash barrier; he sustained second-degree burns and credited the halo device with saving his life. Grosjean moved to the IndyCar Series in 2021 with Dale Coyne, achieving his maiden pole position and podium at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He scored several further podiums across the 2022 and 2023 seasons with Andretti. After contesting 2024 with Juncos Hollinger, Grosjean moved to sportscar racing with Lamborghini in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. In 2026, he returned to the IndyCar Series on a full-time basis for Dale Coyne Racing.
Grosjean was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He was born to a Swiss father and a French mother. He is the great-grandson of Edgar Brandt, weapon designer and founder of Brandt. He is also the grandson of skier Fernand Grosjean, silver medalist in giant slalom at the 1950 World Ski Championship in Aspen.
Grosjean won all ten rounds of the 2003 Formula Lista Junior championship and moved to the French Formula Renault championship for 2004. He was seventh in that first season with one win and was champion in 2005 with ten victories. He also appeared in the Formula Renault Eurocup and finished on the podium twice in Valencia. With his results and potential in the Formula Renault series, Grosjean joined the Renault Driver Development programme for the continuation of his career.
Grosjean made his Formula Three debut at the 2005 Macau Grand Prix, standing in for Loïc Duval at Signature-Plus. He qualified nineteenth and raced to ninth, beating teammates Fábio Carbone and Guillaume Moreau. Grosjean did a full season in the 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series but had a tough year, taking only one podium finish and ending the year thirteenth. In a one-off appearance in the British Formula Three Championship he started on pole position for both races at Pau, won both, and set the fastest lap in each. Grosjean stayed in the Formula 3 Euro Series for 2007 but moved to the ASM team, for which Jamie Green, Lewis Hamilton, and Paul di Resta won the previous three titles. Sébastien Buemi led the championship in the early stages but Grosjean moved ahead with a victory in the ninth race of the season at Mugello. He maintained a lead in the standings from that point onwards and won the title at the final round of the year with one race in hand. Grosjean took pole position for the prestigious Masters of Formula 3 race at Zolder but finished 14th after stalling at the start.
Grosjean drove for ART in the inaugural GP2 Asia Series season alongside Stephen Jelley, winning both races of the first round of the championship. He went on to win the championship with four race victories and sixty-one points overall. Grosjean stayed with ART Grand Prix team for the 2008 GP2 Series. His teammates were Luca Filippi and Sakon Yamamoto. In the first round at the Circuit de Catalunya, Grosjean started eleventh after engine problems in qualifying. He rose through the field to finish fifth in the feature race, giving him fourth on the grid for the shorter sprint race. After a good start, Grosjean was up to second and then passed Kobayashi for the lead. But Grosjean made a mistake on a late rolling restart and Kobayashi tried to pass him again for the lead. Grosjean moved across on Kobayashi to keep the position but the stewards decided his defensive move was illegal and gave him a drive-through penalty dropping him to thirteenth at the end of the race. Victory in the sprint race at Istanbul, the fourth round of the season, moved Grosjean into second place in the championship. Despite dropping back from this position, he finished the season fourth and achieved the distinction of being the highest-placed rookie in the championship. 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series champion Nico Hülkenberg joined Pastor Maldonado at ART for 2009, forcing Grosjean out of the team. Nonetheless, Renault placed him at 2008 team champions Campos Grand Prix for 2009, now known as Barwa Addax. Despite missing the last four rounds, Grosjean finished fourth in the championship standings.
Grosjean was confirmed as Renault's test driver for 2008, replacing Nelson Piquet Jr., who graduated to a race seat. He drove a Formula One car for the first time at the UK round of the 2008 World Series by Renault weekend at Silverstone on 7 and 8 June 2008, where he gave a number of demonstrations of the previous year's R27 car.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
