Grosjean back in F1 cockpit, Magnussen opens up on family

Romain Grosjean has returned to Formula 1 machinery for the first time since his fiery 2020 Bahrain crash.

The 39-year-old Frenchman is at Mugello on Friday for a Haas ‘Testing of Previous Cars’ day, driving the team’s 2023 car under the supervision of several of his former crew members.

"I'm incredibly grateful to Gene Haas and to Ayao Komatsu for inviting me," said Grosjean. "To say I'm excited to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car would naturally be an understatement."

Also testing the Haas is ex-IndyCar driver and F1TV pundit James Hinchcliffe, while Ferrari continues Pirelli’s 2026 tyre development program with Charles Leclerc and Guanyu Zhou, but as Grosjean briefly reappears in F1, his old teammate Kevin Magnussen is making headlines for different reasons.

Speaking on Danish broadcaster DR’s Fortidens Hemligheder, the 32-year-old admitted the challenge of raising two young daughters while racing full-time in F1 was greater than he expected.

"The last few years, when I've had two children and still been racing Formula 1, it's been incredibly hard," he said. "It's the hardest thing I've ever experienced, having to be away from my children so much."

Magnussen said his own upbringing shaped his view. His father Jan, himself also a former F1 driver, told Ekstra Bladet that he was "never home" while chasing his career abroad.

Now competing for BMW in sportscars, Magnussen insists his daughters Laura, 4, and Agnes, 2, will not face the same.

"I didn't want to miss out on my children's childhood," he said. "It would be too big a price to pay."