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It was like a scene from an action movie, except totally unscripted and genuinely life-threatening, involving an impressive escape that Harry Houdini would have had a hard time matching.
Formula One driver Romain Grosjean was trapped in a burning car after it split in half and exploded in a fireball, following an accident on the first lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
As flames raged across the desert night sky, Grosjean was inside a raging furnace for about 10-15 seconds.
Somehow the quick-thinking Frenchman didn’t panic.
Somehow, he was lucid enough to find a way out.
Leaping through the flames like an action hero, he then grabbed onto the molten metal barrier in front of him and leapt onto the track.
Safe, though visibly shaken, he was well enough to walk to the ambulance with the help of two medics.
“Romain has some minor burns on his hands and ankles, but otherwise he’s fine,” his Haas team said. The relief for his distraught teammate Kevin Magnussen and other spectators from the paddock was immense. The drivers and other team members spontaneously applauded.
“I saw a lot of fire and I thought that was not a good thing,” said Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. “Luckily he’s fine and I hope he recovers.
Grosjean, 34, emerged from the burning rubble in his racing helmet and fire retardant racing tunic scorched when track officials doused him with a fire extinguisher.
“I want to thank the rescue teams who are very fast,” said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. “The constables and the FIA people did a great job, it was terrifying.”
When Grosjean was airlifted to a military hospital, where he was kept overnight, the drivers reacted to the jarring scene.
“The car, the cockpit. I don’t know what Gs he got out, but I’m very grateful that the halo worked,” said F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who won the restarted race. “It shows the incredible work that Formula One, the FIA, has done so that he can get away from something like that.”
Compatriot Pierre Gasly, who drives for AlphaTauri, was shocked.
“It was horrible, really scary. I had no idea that a Formula One car could break down like that,” Gasly said. “I texted him to wish him a good recovery. I think it’s okay, but it’s really scary.”
X-rays from the hospital showed that Grosjean didn’t even break a bone, despite an estimated impact speed of 200 kph (125 mph).
But if he hadn’t managed to free himself, getting him out of the cockpit would have been extremely difficult.
“I had never seen so much fire in 12 years. It took me a bit of time to process what was happening, but then Romain started to get out of the car, which was incredible,” said Alan van der Merwe, the driver of the medical car from F1. “Everything worked hand in hand today: the halo, the barriers, the seat belt. Without one of the things, it could have been a different result.”
The halo is a safety device that forms a protective ring around the driver’s head. It was introduced following the death of French driver Jules Bianchi after he suffered a massive head injury on a rain-soaked track at the Japanese GP six years ago and crashed headlong into a crane next to the track. Two years ago, Charles Leclerc, Bianchi’s close friend, was probably saved from serious injury or death from the halo when another car landed on top of his at the Belgian GP.
Hamilton and Verstappen weren’t initially fans of the halo. Things have changed.
“I think the halo saved his life,” Verstappen said. “When it got to the cars I was quite critical about it and it looked ugly. But you can’t say anything about safety because today it definitely saved Roman.”
Grosjean’s accident occurred when he slid to the right and his rear wheel struck the front of Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri, causing Grosjean to fly sideways into the barrier.
“If everyone else is shocked, imagine how your family feels (at the time),” Hamilton said. “The flames, the car split in two and not knowing where the driver is, and him coming out of those flames. I can’t imagine what that is like.”
It reminded Hamilton of a traumatic experience from his youth karting days.
“When I was nine I saw a child die the same day I won a race. So I’ve always been aware of the dangers and risks,” said Hamilton. “I’m also thinking of Roman. He has a wife and children, that must be something he will have to think about a lot. Because it is a privilege to be able to do what we do, but there are so many other things to do.”
