IndyCar – New podium for Romain Grosjean, just missing out on win at Barber
Romain Grosjean took 2nd place Sunday night at the Alabama Grand Prix, the fourth round of the 2023 IndyCar Championship. The Andretti driver, who started from pole position, lost at the end of the race to Scott McLaughlin (Penske), winner at Barber Motorsports Park.
He was very close to a first win in IndyCar, but we’ll have to wait a bit more this season. Romain Grosjean scored his second podium of the year at the Alabama Grand Prix after leading much of the race. But with 18 laps to go, the Frenchman handed victory to Scott McLaughlin after going too far at Turn 5 of the Barber circuit. The Penske driver, who had a fancy strategy (3 stops against 2 for Grosjean), only had to use the rest of his Push to Pass to break away and claim his first win of 2023. Will Power (Penske) joins them in the top 3.
Despite showing his disappointment on American television, Romain Grosjean can still be satisfied with his performance and is back on the podium for the second year in a row.
Simon Pagenaud (Meyer Shank Racing) finished 18th in the Grand Prix.
Fifth in the championship, close to the leader!
Despite narrowly missing out on victory, Grosjean made a significant comeback in the championship, leaving Alabama and finishing fifth overall (115 points), just fifteen points behind leader Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing), who finished tenth. A fact with which he expressed satisfaction at a press conference, recalling that if we removed his two incidents in St. Petersburg and on the Texas oval, he would currently be in the lead.
With two podiums and two pole positions, he was delighted to be fighting with Andretti at the front at the start of the season: “Being champion doesn’t mean winning every race, it means giving everything there. We’re showing that, we already have two poles, two second places, so I’m very happy with that and we’ll keep working on it.
The next IndyCar meet is May 13th with the Indianapolis Road Grand Prix, Test that will precede the 500 miles at the end of May.
Cover picture – PENSKE ENTERTAINMENT
