Grosjean escapes mindblowing fireball crash
French Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean has miraculously escaped a violent crash at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Despite a major fireball, the Frenchman got out himself in seconds, and got away with minor burns, while his car is reduced to scrap.
The start of the Bahrain Grand Prix seemed to go all fine, especially for the guys in front, with Hamilton maintaining the advantage from pole. However, in the midfield, some drivers bumped into one another.
It was behind these midfield drivers that Grosjean moved over to avoid Magnussen, and thereby cut into the track of Kvyat. The contact made Grosjean spear right into the barriers. Upon impact, the car immediately caught fire due to being ripped in two. The angle of the impact caused the engine and the rear to dislocate from the chassis as it protruded into the armco barrier.
Luckily, the Frenchman managed to escape in a matter of seconds, and the medical car, as it is following the pack in the first lap, was present immediately. Alan van der Merwe swiftly jumped out of the car and ran towards the car, into the flames while a marshall was trying to extinguish the flames, or rather push them back a little bit.
Out of the flames however came Romain Grosjean, who managed to escape from the monocoque that was stuck in the barriers. The components that are there to protect the driver were intact, and it is absolutely evident that the halo prevented Grosjean from being hit in the head by the upper guardrail. There is no doubt this would have had a completely different outcome.
Romain was subsequently taken away in an ambulance, and off to the hospital with a helicopter to check for any other injuries, such as suspected broken ribs.
