Romain Grosjean reveals which team principal he ‘wished’ to work under in Formula 1

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Romain Grosjean has named the Formula 1 team principal he ‘wished’ he could have worked with during his time in the championship.

The Frenchman began his career at Renault in 2009 when he was paired with Fernando Alonso, who takes part in his 400th Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

He would later be teammates to Kimi Raikkonen at the same team under the Lotus guise, then latterly Kevin Magnussen at Haas.

Romain Grosjean has worked under current Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore while he was at Renault, but when discussing his former team with Motorsport-Total, he mentioned one team principal he wanted to work under.

Romain Grosjean ‘wished’ he worked under Ayao Komatsu at Haas

Grosjean has a long-standing relationship with current Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu, with the latter having been his engineer during his period at Lotus and Haas.

The Frenchman was responsible for bringing Komatsu over to Haas when he joined them in 2016, and after being ousted from the team at the end of the 2020 season he regrets not working with him as the team leader.

“Haas is getting better and better. I mean, Ayao Komatsu is doing a great job for the team,” said Grosjean.

“I almost wished I could have worked with him. So I think Ocon has a big chance there.”

Haas has reall ‘exciting’ future ahead of it according to Nico Hulkenberg

Haas will go with an all-new driver lineup for the 2025 season as it replaces both Nico Hulkenberg and Magnussen with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

It is set to be the first full-time debut for Bearman after impressing with outings at Ferrari and the American team in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan this season, while Ocon offers some experience having previously worked with Komatsu in his days at Renault.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver and Ferrari gem Oliver Bearman? Everything to know

Hulkenberg believes Haas is in store for an ‘exciting’ future having increased its 300-person headcount by 10 per cent in the last few months with a big recruitment drive.

The team recently announced a technical partnership deal with former F1 manufacturer Toyota, which will be sigificant in their drive to move further up the field when the new regulations come into play in 2026.