Bahrain 2012: Romain Grosjean scores his first Formula 1 podium

When Romain Grosjean find her Formula 1 In 2012, within the Lotus team, he came back from a long way. After a disappointing first experience with Renault In 2009, the French driver was relegated to GP2, where he bounced back to clinch the title in 2011. This comeback with Lotus—the former Renault, now rebranded—comes in a particularly open 2012 season, where seven different drivers won the first seven races. The Lotus E20 is a solid car, competitive on long runs, and Kimi Räikkönen, his teammate, will demonstrate this by winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix later that year. Grosjean, for his part, is still looking to confirm his potential at the highest level. This Bahrain Grand Prix, the fourth round of the 2012 championship, will offer him his first major opportunity.

A well-deserved podium finish

Starting seventh on the grid, Grosjean made a blistering start. By the first corner, he had moved up to fourth place, finding himself right behind... Hag, Hamilton and Webber. The Lotus is fast, the tires are holding well, and the Frenchman isn't stopping there. On lap four, he overtakes Webber for third place at the end of the pit lane. On lap seven, he passes Hamilton. Grosjean is second, just five seconds behind Vettel. Tire strategy will dictate the pace of the entire race. Grosjean pits on lap ten, rejoins in a good position, and manages to overtake di Resta on lap fourteen. After the second pit stops, he finds himself third behind Vettel and Räikkönen—his own teammate having snatched second place from him on lap twenty-four before making his pit stop. The two Lotuses are right there, solid, tireless.

On lap thirty-nine, a symbolic moment occurred: when Vettel, Räikkönen, and Webber pitted simultaneously for their third tires, Grosjean found himself leading a Formula 1 Grand Prix for the very first time in his career. It was only a handful of laps, but the moment had a special flavor. He pitted again on lap forty, and the natural order was restored: Vettel in front, Räikkönen second, Grosjean third. The remaining fifty-seven laps passed without any further changes to the hierarchy. Sebastian Vettel won. Red BullKimi Räikkönen crossed the line in second position, and Romain Grosjean completed the podium in third — his first ever podium in Formula 1, at 26 years old.

The beginning of a long career

This third place in Bahrain launched a strong momentum for Grosjean. He would ultimately finish on the podium three times in 2012, despite a one-race suspension following a collision at the start of Spa. In 2013, Grosjean impressed with six more top-three finishes, and a tenth podium in 2015, again with Lotus. He then joined Haas From 2016 onwards, he became one of the pillars of the new American team. His F1 career ended tragically but miraculously in 2020, at the Bahrain Grand Prix—precisely where he had finished on the podium for the first time—when he survived a violent crash involving a burning car. He left F1 alive, which, that night, was already the most important thing.

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