"It’s one of the hardest decisions of my life, but it’s obviously one of the wisest," says Romain Grosjean who will not return for his final race in Haas - which was also likely to conclude his F1 career; Grosjean returning home to Switzerland to continue recovery
Sunday 6 December 2020 15:28, UK
Romain Grosjean has confirmed with "great sadness" that he will not return for what was scheduled to be his final race in Formula 1 in next week's season-ending Abu Dhabi GP due to the injuries sustained in last week's fiery accident at the Bahrain GP.
Describing it as "one of the hardest decisions of my life" having hoped to sign off from the Haas team with a return to action, Grosjean said it was "better I don't take the risk to race in Abu Dhabi" as it was the "best one for my future".
Grosjean is returning home to Switzerland from Bahrain to continue to receive treatment to the burns on his hands sustained in last Sunday's accident.
"It is with great sadness that I will not be able to do my final race in Abu Dhabi and be with the team there," said the Frenchman, who also posted a video message on social media.
"We've tried as much as we could with the doctor to recover and to repair my hand, but the risk of racing is too big for my recovery and my health. So, the decision was made that I'm not going to race. It's one of the hardest decisions of my life, but it's obviously one of the wisest. I will miss the team, but I will be supporting them as ever."
Speaking earlier this week in an emotive interview recalling last Sunday, Grosjean said that in the event he was not able to take part in Abu Dhabi he would reach out to teams to see if he could conduct a private test over the winter in order to ensure his accident was not his last drive in an F1 car.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has already indicated the world champions would be willing to facilitate such an outing for the 34-year-old if allowed and required.
Brazilian rookie Pietro Fittipaldi will again drive in place of Grosjean for Haas in Abu Dhabi.
In a move announced in October, Grosjean and team-mate Kevin Magnussen are both being released by the team at the end of this season. Rookies Mick Schumacher, the new F2 champion, and Nikita Mazepin are replacing them.
Team boss Guenther Steiner said: "I'm naturally very sorry that Romain will miss what was going to be his final race with Haas F1 Team.
"But we are all in agreement that he has to take the best course of action regarding his treatment and recovery from last Sunday's incident.
"Romain has shown exceptional bravery and amazing spirit over the last few days - we know how badly he wanted to be able to return to the cockpit of the VF-20 in Abu Dhabi. And we all would have loved him to have been there too."
Beyond his Formula 1 career, which first began unsuccessfully in 2009 but interrupted since 2012 and has featured 10 podium finishes, Grosjean has been recently spoken about interest in competing in the World Endurance Championship and IndyCar.
He joined Haas from Lotus for their debut campaign in 2016 and finished sixth and fifth in the start-up American outfit's first two races. Last week's race in Bahrain was his 96th start for the team.
"Romain believed in our Formula 1 project at the very start, he committed to drive for us before we'd even built a car," added Steiner. "There is no doubting the determination and sheer effort he has put into helping us to achieve what we have as a young team in Formula 1.
"We will forever be grateful for that belief and commitment. It is those qualities, his drive and ambition, that I'm sure will aid him on his recovery."
