Romain Grosjean will get to drive a 2019 Mercedes Formula 1 car in a test seven months on from his horrific fireball crash.
Mercedes announced today that Grosjean will drive Lewis Hamilton’s 2019-championship winning car at the Le Castellet circuit in France next month.
The drive could be the last time F1 sees Grosjean in one of its cars.
“I am so excited to jump back into an F1 car,” Grosjean said.
“It will be a special opportunity for me, and to drive a world championship-winning Mercedes will be a unique experience.
“I am very grateful to Mercedes F1 and to Toto [Wolff] for the opportunity.”
The French driver was set to leave the Haas F1 team after the 2020 season.
However, he missed the final two rounds of the year after sustaining burns and broken ribs in a vicious crash during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The crash became a global headline about driver safety. Grosjean was able to extract himself from a car engulfed in flames and walk away without serious injury.
However, he said after the accident that he was determined to return to an F1 car for one final swansong.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff then approached Grosjean to ask if he would return for a test.
“We didn’t want his accident to be his last moment in an F1 car,” Wolff said.
“I have known Romain since his days in Formula Three when he won the championship.
“He enjoyed a long and successful F1 career and we wanted to make sure that his final memories would be at the wheel of a championship-winning car.”
Grosjean will also do a handful of demonstration laps before the start of the French Grand Prix the same week as his test.