Grosjean preparing to start a new chapter: 'This is probably the end for me with single-seaters'

Romain Grosjean spent the 2026 IndyCar season leading Dale Coyne’s two-car operation, but won’t be returning to the team next year.

The Swiss-born Frenchman was considered for one or two other IndyCar opportunities after completing his fifth run in the American championship, but they didn’t come to fruition. After committing most of his life to karts, junior open-wheel cars, and 179 starts in Formula 1, the 40-year-old has come to terms with the direction his career has taken.

“The reality is, this is probably the end for me with single-seaters,” Grosjean told RACER. “Endurance racing will be my priority just because the busy lifestyle is a lot. And this year was tough, I'm not gonna lie. I had few amazing moments. I got the chance to lead the Indy 500. I finished in the top 10. I ran the top five most of the last 60 laps. Amazing! I got a podium in Markham, which was incredible with my ‘tractor.’

“But then we go to Milwaukee and Laguna Seca, and (at) Laguna Seca, I qualified dead last, almost. I know it’s one of my fastest tracks, so I'm like, ‘I don't want that anymore.’ I've had enough of those moments where you just don't have the tools to play. So yeah, that's why I think single-seaters, it's over, and endurance racing, sharing more with people on the human side, and having fun and winning races, that's it for me.”

Grosjean is learning to accept a reality that arrives for every veteran of IndyCar and F1.

The top-tier rides start to diminish in the latter stages of an extended career. The will to wake before sunrise, and grind through workouts with knees and hips and ankles and elbows that ache from age and extreme mileage, loses its allure. Those 200-plus travel days per year convert from youthful fun to guilt and regret as more kids’ birthdays are missed and time with growing families is lost.

As Grosjean sees it, the progression from Monaco and the Indy 500 to Le Mans and Sebring isn’t something to fight.  

“No, I think it's kind of natural,” he says. “And I don't feel bad about it. It takes a lot on your body, it takes a lot on your mind, and it takes time that you just don't want to give anymore. It is going to be kind of strange, maybe. But I've given so much to that world that it feels like it's time to do something else. You know, 2003 was my first year in single-seaters, so 23 years… it's a long time and I’ve had a lot of fun, but I want to have something different.”

With his family based in Miami and increasing business developments in Florida, Grosjean won’t suffer from boredom anytime soon. He’s hoping to find opportunities in IMSA, where he raced for the Lamborghini factory GTP effort in 2025, and returned in January with Myers Riley Motorsports in a Ford Mustang GT3 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

He also wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to be reunited with modern F1 machinery on special occasions.

“I could do Goodwood!” he said. “I could do some demo runs. I can do some fun runs, but competitiveness-wise, I really want to do endurance racing, and see what's there for me.”