Haas driver Romain Grosjean escaped serious injury after being involved in a massive crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix that ripped his car in half and engulfed it in flames.
The incident occurred when Grosjean made contact with AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat, which pitched him straight into a barrier in an impact registered at over 50 G-forces. Grosjean’s car was ripped apart and immediately burst into flames.
Grosjean was stuck in the flames for nearly 10 seconds. The FIA medical car, which follows the pack on the first lap, was quickly on the scene to help Grosjean from what was left of his car and its survival cell.
The French driver, 34, who looks set to leave F1 at the end of the year, was immediately taken to the circuit medical centre and needed to be helped to the medical vehicle. Grosjean was then taken to the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Hospital, where he will remain overnight to treat burns on both hands.
After initial concerns that he had a broken rib, a medical update confirmed there were no fractures.
« I just spoke with him on the phone, he’s in a clear state of mind, he’s good, » Haas team principal Guenther Steiner told Sky Sports after the race. « He’s still staying in the hospital overnight, they want to keep him there.
« But he told me and not the doctor, he feels good, it seems nothing is broken. He’s got his hands bandaged from the burns, but otherwise he said he has no burns or nothing. He was very upbeat, I would say, so very happy. »
The race was immediately stopped after the crash.
« I want to thank the rescue crews who are very quick, » Steiner said. « The marshals and FIA people they did a great job, it was scary »
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who won the race for his 95th career F1 victory, posted to Instagram during the stoppage, saying: « I’m so grateful Roman is safe, wow.
« The risk we take is no joke for those of you out there that forget we put our life on the line for this sport and love what we do. This is a reminder to us all. Thankful to the FIA for the massive strides we’ve taken for roman to walk away from that safely. »
Safety Car driver Alan van der Merwe, who was part of the team who dragged Grosjean from the fire, said: « I’ve never seen that much fire. … In 12 years, I’ve not seen that much fire and an impact like that.
« We just took a little while to process what was going on. I’m sure it was only a second or so but it felt like ages. Then Romain just started to actually get out of the car itself, which is pretty amazing after an accident like that. »
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/30413794/haas-driver-grosjean-involved-huge-fiery-crash-bahrain-gp
