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When you're the oldest driver on the grid without a world championship, race win or pole position to your name, you might be excused for starting to wonder if success is ever going to come your way. Not Romain Grosjean.

Now in his ninth season, the Frenchman's optimism remains sky-high. Grosjean, 32, didn't hesitate when asked if he could finally break through and claim that elusive maiden win.

"You need to have one of the two best cars to win a race, I know that, but I believe if you give me that car I can win," Grosjean tells ESPN. "There's still no reason why I can't be world champion one day."

Romain Grosjean says he is still confident of breaking through for his first win in Formula One. SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images

Despite having not yet tasted victory, Grosjean has stood on the podium 10 times throughout his career and believes only wretched luck has prevented him from taking the chequered flag first.

"I have had two grands prix where I should have won the race but luck never turned my way," he says. "In Germany, 2013 the race was won clearly and then a Marussia blew the engine, parked on the side and the car rolled backwards onto the track. There was a Safety Car and Vettel won.

"Then there was Valencia, 2012 where I could have won the race and the alternator failed."

As Grosjean recalls the near misses of his career, the overwhelming feeling is not disappointment or frustration but rather the sense of entitlement that he belongs and has earned his place in Formula One: "I think I've done enough."

Experience

Romain Grosjean is the oldest driver on the Formula One grid without a race win. SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images

The calmer and more measured Grosjean we are seeing in 2018 is a vastly different figure to the hot-headed 23-year-old who arrived into Formula One back in 2009. The Frenchman always seemed to be at the centre of carnage and controversy in his early years with a number of his colleagues going so far as to brand him the sport's most reckless driver.

His lowest moment came at the 2012 Belgium Grand Prix when he was deemed responsible for causing a spectacular Turn 1 pile up which saw him send five cars into retirement and very nearly decapitate former teammate Fernando Alonso. Grosjean was slapped with a race-ban for the incident in what appeared to be a turning point in his career.

"When I came into Formula One I thought it was just about going fast," Grosjean says. "[But] Formula One is much more complicated than the other categories. Yes, it's about going fast but it's also about developing the car, finding the right setup and getting everything else right.

"The youngsters coming in are super-fast but they have never been in a situation where they need to develop a car.

"In Formula One there's very little time to get better. It's not like tennis where you can go and play every day to get your backhand perfect. The more experience you've got in Formula One the better you get."

Now as he approaches a decade since his F1 debut, Grosjean can consider himself a veteran of the grid. He's raced for three teams and been paired with multiple world championship-winning teammates over the journey, all of which is contributing to the Grosjean we see today.

The Haas era

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen present the 2018 Haas F1 car in Barcelona. Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Grosjean's desire for a fresh start and the ability to develop a car from scratch came to fruition at the beginning of 2016 when he made the switch from Lotus to Haas, joining Esteban Gutierrez in the American team's debut season.

In the space of 24 months, Haas has made arguably the largest gains of any team in the paddock, rising from unreliable backmarkers to the leader of the midfield pack, an achievement Grosjean labels as "unbelievable."

"When I joined I saw the idea and the partnership with Ferrari, the suspension, the gearbox, the engine, the hydraulics from Ferrari. I thought 'okay, if we've got those -- which are probably the best in the world -- we need to focus on doing our own chassis and own aerodynamics'," Grosjean says. "I met some of the aerodynamic people and they had a good understanding of what the drivers want and need.

"I knew there were [going to be] times where we didn't get the best of it but I also knew there would be times where it could be amazing.

"It was a great challenge and a great unknown but what Haas has achieved in two and a half years is unbelievable and it's never before been seen in Formula One. Our rate of improvement is huge."

In 2016, Haas managed just five points-scoring finishes for the season, all of which came through Grosjean, while last year the team finished in the points on 13 occasions.

Early signs in 2018 suggest Haas has overtaken the likes of McLaren and Renault in the race to be Formula One's fourth best team behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

"Those teams have got huge resources and five or six hundred employees and we're there fighting with them and making our way through," Grosjean says. "Already that's an accomplishment on its own and if we can keep up the rate of development and keep up the performance with those guys it would be pretty impressive."

When asked if he's enjoying 2018 more than any other point in his career, Grosjean is clear: "Yeah, I think so."

"The team atmosphere is amazing, the cars are fast and we're fighting at the front. Obviously we would like to fight for the win a bit more but I'm enjoying my time."

Australian GP heartache

Romain Grosjean of Haas retired from fifth place during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

This season hasn't been all smooth sailing for Haas and Grosjean, however.

The look of utter despair splashed across the faces of the team's pitcrew after lap 22 of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix was absolutely heartbreaking.

Haas was set to smash its best result in Formula One with Kevin Magnussen and Grosjean running fourth and fifth respectively before a pair of botched pitstops on consecutive laps brought both cars to a halt on track.

"Everyone was sad that we lost a huge result for the team but my philosophy was like 'I would rather retire when I'm fourth or fifth in the race than finishing every single race in 18th position' -- that's boring like f---," Grosjean explained.

When Grosjean returned to the pitlane he was seen consoling a bunch of the team's mechanics and the Frenchman revealed his message to the crew: "Look, we had fun, we fought the Red Bull, we're fighting at the front. It's a shame, but if the car is that good and we can repeat that every weekend then Australia is going to be forgotten."

Three races into the season and Haas' new-found pace hasn't quite translated onto the constructors' championship standings with the team sitting seventh on 11 points heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. However, Grosjean, as always, remains optimistic.

"This year the car is very fast, I believe we have a very good baseline, a very good package and we can do very well."