Romain Grosjean will finally get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car almost five years after his fireball crash in Bahrain.
The 10-time F1 podium finisher's stint with Haas came to a premature end in the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix when his Haas VF-20 went into the wall and burst into flames.
Grosjean had a 67G impact with the barriers and sustained burns to the back of both of his hands from the fire.
That ruled him out of the final two races of the 2020 season and brought his five-year stint with Haas to an end a month earlier than expected.
Grosjean headed to IndyCar for 2021, but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff promised he'd give Grosjean an F1 test - though that ultimately never materialised, with Grosjean saying it was "his fault" that their schedules had not yet aligned.
But his former team has come to the rescue, as Grosjean is due to get behind the wheel of Haas's 2023 car at Mugello this Friday as part of its Testing of Previous Cars programme.
Grosjean raced at Mugello in F1's sole Tuscan Grand Prix as the Italian circuit stepped in to hold a race amid the Covid-triggered calendar disruption.
"I'm incredibly grateful to [team owner] Gene Haas and to Ayao Komatsu for inviting me to participate in the TPC at Mugello," Grosjean said.
"To say I'm excited to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car would naturally be an understatement.
"I really can't believe it’s been almost five years, but to come back and have this outing with my old team is truly something special."
Members of Grosjean’s original Haas crew will be overseeing the test, including current team boss Ayao Komatsu, who will serve as Grosjean's race engineer.
Komatsu was originally Grosjean's race engineer during their time at the Enstone-based Lotus-Renault team before following Grosjean to Haas when it debuted in F1 in 2016.
Dominic Haines - Grosjean's race engineer during his final two Haas seasons - will also be present as he is the heritage chief engineer for Haas. Ian Staniforth, Grosjean's long-time number one race mechanic, will also be at the test.
This will also give Grosjean a chance to use the special helmet, designed by his three children, he would have worn had he not been ruled out of his final planned F1 outing in Abu Dhabi.
"I'm excited to see everyone, I'm sure we'll spend a bit of time reminiscing about the old days, but I'm also keen to be of use regarding the trackside agenda with the VF-23 - it's great the team now has the TPC programme as part of its ongoing development," Grosjean added.
Komatsu said he was "absolutely thrilled" to welcome Grosjean back into one of the team's cars.
It has only been possible to do so this year as Haas only started its TPC programme this year in collaboration with technical partner Toyota Gazoo Racing, with a somewhat unorthodox driving line-up so far.
Komatsu himself got behind the wheel of a Haas at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (above) along with team owner Gene Haas.
Ex-F1 drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Kazuki Nakajima have participated in tests, and the team gave Super Formula champions Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata their F1 test debuts.
IndyCar race winner and F1 TV pundit James Hinchcliffe will also take part in the test.
