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Sick & Tired of Waiting in Airports, Romain Grosjean Finds a “Cool” Solution to the Problem

Published 02/09/2023, 6:00 AM EST

We often see open-wheel car drivers being called pilots. Seems like Romain Grosjean took the term quite literally. Known for his fandom for flying, Romain wanted to get a pilot’s license during his time in Europe. However, owing to the time-consuming license process, that dream did not come true. Now that he is competing in IndyCar in America, the Swiss-born driver has earned his pilot’s license for the simple reason that he did not like waiting for flights. Overjoyed with his new achievement, he recalled the crazy experience of landing a plane on the Albert Whitted Airport’s runway, which doubles as a part of a racetrack.

Before making a move to IndyCar, Grosjean had spent 9 full-time seasons in Formula 1. However, the most significant day he is and will be remembered for a very long time by F1 fans is the 2020 Bahrain GP. He suffered a horrific crash when his car went into the barriers and caught fire instantly. F1 photographer Charles Coates, who was stationed pretty close to the crash site, recalled the incident as something he had never seen before. After the end of the season, to race in Indycar, Romain moved to America, where he also earned his pilot’s license.

Talking about one of the two instances of landing Albert Whitted Airport’s main runway during IndyCar Preseason Content Days as quoted by NBC Sports, he recalled, “Just to land on the start-finish line, that was pretty cool.”

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“The air traffic control guy was like, “Yeah, left on Acre Five, turn, and then back”. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s the last corner of the racetrack, I’ll take it and go back to the pit lane. He was like, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, that’s true.’ So it was quite funny.”

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Romain plans to fly himself to almost all the races in 2023 if the weather allows.

Romain Grosjean talks about the “freedom” to fly anywhere

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Grosjean lives with his family in Miami. However, when it came to having lunch with his wife in Key West, he chose to fly there. 37 minutes to the place and 41 minutes back is what appeals to the former Haas driver.

He said, “Freedom. Freedom to go anywhere you want, anytime you want. It’s the beauty of it. We can go to the Bahamas for a day if we want to. Anywhere. I think that’s just great to know that you can do whatever you want.”

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Romain began his online studies in August last year and earned licenses for multi-engine airplanes. During that time, he completed 115 hours of flight time.

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Written by:

Nischay Rathore is a Formula 1 Author at EssentiallySports. Being a law graduate, he has worked at the Supreme Court of India as well as the High Court of Delhi. However, due to his adherent love for sports, he has now set out to start his journey into the world of Sports Journalism.

Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

Sick & Tired of Waiting in Airports, Romain Grosjean Finds a “Cool” Solution to the Problem

Romain Grosjean talks about the “freedom” to fly anywhere

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