Mercedes postpones Grosjean Paul Ricard F1 test
The Mercedes Formula 1 team has postponed Romain Grosjean's Paul Ricard test due to travel restrictions between the United States and France.
Grosjean was set to get two outings in a Mercedes W10 car, as offered by team boss Toto Wolff, after the former Haas driver's crash at last year's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Grosjean was originally due to hold a demo of Mercedes' 2019 car at the French Grand Prix on 25-27 June, but that outing had to be cancelled after the Paul Ricard race weekend was brought forward to this weekend, meaning the event clashes with Grosjean's IndyCar commitments at Road America.
The Frenchman was still set to travel to Le Castellet for an opportunity to undertake a private test with the Mercedes on 29 June.
But that test has now been postponed due to France's current COVID-19 countermeasures, which stipulate Grosjean would have had to quarantine after travelling to France from the United States.
On Wednesday Mercedes announced on social media that Grosjean's Mercedes test "has been postponed because of travel restrictions and quarantine requirements."
The team added it would seek a new test date later this year to give Grosjean a fitting end to his F1 career, stating "we're committed to giving Romain his chance in a Mercedes F1 car and we're working to reschedule the test later this summer."
Grosjean, who last month took his first pole and podium in IndyCar, said the idea to hold a final F1 test came up while he was recovering in hospital from the burns he suffered in Sakhir's fiery accident.
"Well it was all Toto," Grosjean said on F1's Beyond the Grid podcast. "You know, when I was in my hospital bed in Bahrain, someone was helping me to open the things on my mobile phone, because I didn't have any fingers to use.
"And then friends told me 'Oh, Toto says you could have a test in a Mercedes if you don't make it back to Abu Dhabi'. And I'm like, oh okay, that is super cool.
"Obviously, at the time, I really liked it. But I wanted to come back to Abu Dhabi until the day it wasn't going to happen. And then I went back home, had a bit of recovery and then eventually got a call from Mercedes."
He also added: "It is an incredible chance. Just for few things. I'm still a Formula 1 fan. I still watch the races. I have been driving it, but now I get to drive the 2019 world champion car, which at the end is not too far from the 2020, which was probably the fastest Formula 1 car ever built.
"And I drive it without pressure, without having a test day to complete few test things and go through a programme and so on. Yes, we can have a programme, but it's more [like] let's go and have some fun."
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