"He knew I had a baby!": Romain Grosjean recalls hilarious Kimi Raikkonen story

Romain Grosjean appeared on Nico Rosberg's podcast a year after his infamous crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. While the majority of the episode was spent discussing the fiery incident, the host made sure to put in some light-hearted moments as well.

At the mid-way point of the podcast, Rosberg asked Grosjean who the fastest driver is between Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. Having teamed up with both drivers over the course of his career, the former Haas man said:

"I think the faster would be Alonso over one lap, but over a race distance, Kimi would always find a solution to go fast. He would just drive it and say the car was okay and you'd be like, 'No, the car wasn't okaym it was understeering/oversteering or whatever!'"

When Nico Rosberg asked Grosjean to talk about some funny moments with Kimi Raikkonen, he said:

"You know, we were teammates for two years, but we never really spoke that much. Kimi was Kimi. He's changed a lot since he's got kids, for the better. I remember when we were at Spa [Francorchamps], in the truck, he comes to me and says, 'Congratulations on the birth of your son'. I was shocked because we never spoke and out of the blue he just knew I had a baby. I didn't know what to say."

Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean starred alongside each other for Lotus. It was a productive partnership for the team, with the two claiming 10 podiums between them, including a win for Raikkonen at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Watch the all-revealing podcast below:

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Romain Grosjean began F1 career on controversial note

In 2009, Romain Grosjean replaced then Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr., who is perhaps best known for his involvement in the infamous "Crashgate" scandal.

At the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed on purpose in Turn 17, allowing teammate Fernando Alonso to comfortably take the lead from Felipe Massa and win the race. After the son of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet was dropped from the team at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, the driver revealed that the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix incident was planned by managing director Flavio Briatore, who subsequently left the team.

Romain Grosjean was the driver who replaced Piquet Jr. in 2009. Coincidentally, the Swiss-French driver crashed out in the exact same corner at that year's Singapore Grand Prix.

Grosjean retired from F1 following his Bahrain crash last year and now races in the IndyCar series, where he picked up three podiums and a pole in 2021.