FIRST LOOK: Romain Grosjean drives an F1 car for the first time in five years

Romain Grosjean has returned to F1 action for the first time since his scary accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Grosjean turned the wheel of Haas’ 2023 F1 car at the Mugello circuit on Friday morning.

As part of a TPC outing, Grosjean ended his long wait to get back on track behind an F1 car.

Grosjean’s F1 career ended slightly prematurely following his fireball crash in Bahrain.

Due to the injuries he sustained from the accident, Grosjean couldn’t compete in the final two races of the season.

Grosjean was promised a test outing by Mercedes, but that hasn’t materialised in the subsequent five years.

Instead, his former team, Haas, gave him the chance to drive again.

Understandably, Grosjean was excited to get back on track in an F1 car.

Speaking ahead of the test, he said: “I’m incredibly grateful to Gene Haas and to Ayao Komatsu for inviting me to participate in the TPC at Mugello. To say I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car would naturally be an understatement.

“I really can’t believe it’s been almost five years, but to come back and have this outing with my old team is truly something special. I’m excited to see everyone, I’m sure we’ll spend a bit of time reminiscing about the old days, but I’m also keen to be of use regarding the trackside agenda with the VF-23 – it’s great the team now has the TPC program as part of its ongoing development.

“Finally, my kids had designed my helmet for what was meant to be my final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi back in 2020 – I’m at last going to be able to give it a go in a Formula 1 car on Friday.”

The Frenchman was sporting a helmet designed by his children.

Grosjean had intended to wear it at the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which was meant to be his final race.

The 39-year-old will share testing duties with former IndyCar star and now F1 pundit James Hinchcliffe.

Haas boss Ayao Komatsu was in attendance.

Komatsu was Grosjean’s race engineer at Haas between 2016 and 2020.

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur was also present, with the Scuderia set to test for Pirelli at Mugello on Friday.

Charles Leclerc and Zhou Guanyu will be in action for the team.

Lewis Hamilton was set to drive but, due to a health scare with his dog Roscoe, the seven-time world champion won’t be in action.