Andretti Global will not comment on the current situation surrounding their former driver Romain Grosjean after the French-Swiss driver initiated arbitration proceedings in Indiana on Wednesday.
Grosjean made the announcement in order to ‘protect his rights’. Grosjean said that he had expected to race with Andretti Global’s INDYCAR team for many years to come.
It has emerged that following his double podium finishes at Barber Motorsports Park and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the start of the season, he (Grosjean) has been presented with a new contract to compete in INDYCAR with Andretti. Paddock Eye understands that while Grosjean signed the contract, Andretti Global did not.
The relationship between Grosjean and the team deteriorated over the course of the season and team owner, Michael Andretti was extremely unhappy after Grosjean crashed out of the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May.
On August 23, Andretti Autosport announced that they have signed 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson to compete full-time with the team in 2024, and while the team hopes to run four cars full-time in 2024, it is widely believed that the team may instead opt to run three cars full-time after long-term sponsor DHL announced that they would leave the team.
As it stands, Andretti Global’s INDYCAR SERIES team has three drivers signed up for 2024, Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, (who last week confirmed he has signed a multi-year contract extension with Andretti), and Marcus Ericsson.