Grosjean's Escape From The Horror Accident At The Bahrain Grand Prix Was A Miracle

JAKARTA - Romain Grosjean escaped 'miraculously' from his Haas car which was split in half and was engulfed in flames during an accident on the first lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 34-year-old French racer was able to free himself from the wreckage of his car and avoid the fire after his car hit the guardrail and is now receiving medical attention at a nearby military hospital.

"It's a miracle he survived," British 1996 world champion Damon Hill told Sky TV.

FIA medical delegate Ian Roberts immediately ran and helped Grosjean when the marshal tried to extinguish the fire that was engulfing a car beside the track.

The collision was known to have a gravitational force of more than 50G, an FIA spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"We haven't seen anything like it since the Gerhard crash at Imola a few years ago," said Hill, referring to the accident that pierced the fuel tank of Gerhard Berger's Ferrari car in 1989.

We are so thankful that Romain Grosjean was able to walk away from this. We did not need a reminder of the bravery and brilliance of our drivers, marshals, and medical teams, nor of the advances in safety in our sport, but we truly got one today # BahrainGP 🇧🇭 # F1 pic.twitter.com/z8OeTU5Nem

- Formula 1 (@ F1) November 29, 2020

A spokesman for the Haas team said Grosjean had minor burns to his hands and ankles and possible broken ribs.

Re-tapes show Grosjean, who will part with his team later this year, hobbling along.

Race to the 15th series of the 2020 season was delayed by one hour and 20 minutes as workers had to clear debris from the track and fix the guardrail.

Lewis Hamilton, who has secured his seventh world title, was shocked to see the re-recording of the accident.

"I'm so grateful Romain survived. Wow ... this risk we're taking is no joke, for those out there who forget that we put our lives at stake for this sport and for what we love to do," Hamilton said on Twitter. .

"Thank you to the FIA for the great step we have taken so that Romain avoided that safely."

The death of Formula 2 rider Anthoine Hubert at last year's Belgian Grand Prix was the first fatal incident in F1 racing since the deaths of Brazilian Ayrton Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Jules Bianchi suffered a serious head injury following an accident at the Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014. The French racer died in July the following year.

Hill said hello, the head protective gear that has been installed in F1 cars since 2018, appears to have played an important role in saving Grosjean from serious injury and team head Haas Guenther Steiner agrees.

"What you see happening out there, if you see the barrier tear, that's incredible," said Steiner.

Work to repair the barrier is continuing #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 # F1 pic.twitter.com/LqA9ErafqW

- Formula 1 (@ F1) November 29, 2020

"I think we got lucky by being unlucky ... we got away with it, I think," said Steiner, who was also grateful for the alertness of the marshal and safety officers.

Medical car driver Alan van der Merwe, when he arrived at the scene, said he needed time to process what happened.

"I'm sure it was only one second but it felt like a long time. And then Romain got out of his car by himself which was pretty incredible after an accident like that," said van der Merwe.

"Hello, guardrail, seat belts, everything is working properly. Without one of these things would be different."

The best video we've seen today? THIS 🙂 👊 # BahrainGP 🇧🇭 # F1 @RGrosjean pic.twitter.com/TbGblznMBv

- Formula 1 (@ F1) November 29, 2020