Romain Grosjean has confirmed what many in the paddock have suspected, that he will be departing Andretti Autosport at the end of the 2023 IndyCar season.
The news comes via reporting by NBC Sports, which talked to Grosjean about his future plans at this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland.
“I cannot speak for what Michael Andretti is doing with the fourth car, but I do have other IndyCar teams that are talking to me,” Grosjean told NBC Sports. “I will land on my feet.
“I’m a Phoenix. I will always find a place to land.”
Suspicion that Grosjean would be leaving Andretti grew quickly when it was announced that Marcus Ericsson would be joining the team next year.
When no such confirmation came for the 37-year-old Frenchman, his future with the team drifted further into doubt.
Grosjean’s performance has been in decline since the Indy 500 as well, with only one top 10 result in the past 11 races.
Michael Andretti spoke to NBC Sports about the situation, relating that he’s still not sure if his team will field four entries next season or not.
With Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, and the aforementioned Ericsson locked in, having only three cars would leave no room to keep Grosjean.
“That is correct, we are still very much noncommittal,” Andretti told NBC Sports when asked about a fourth entry in 2024.
“We are working on a fourth right now. To be honest with you, we really don’t know what we want to do yet. We hope to have an answer by Laguna Seca.
“There are a lot of things that go into a fourth car, not just sponsorship. We have quite a few different options we are looking at and see what the best one is that works for us.”
Grosjean was seen having a heated argument with his team after he was knocked out of qualifying, with both sides seemingly quite upset with the other over traffic issues.
The intense nature of the arguing is likely a product of both sides knowing the relationship will be ending soon, or perhaps the disagreements played a part in the departure in the first place.
With Grosjean not being part of the team next year, it is likely that Ericsson will take over the #28 entry that Grosjean has piloted for the past two seasons.
