How Roman Grozian got away from the horrific crash of the F1 in decades

The Formula 1 car barely finished third around the track before temporarily stopping the red flag at this week’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The start of the F1 race is often chaotic, especially between the backs of the grid, and so it proved on Sunday when Haas VF-20, powered by Roman Grozian, derailed on the right after exiting three turns.

The next breakdown is not so unusual in the game, unlike what happened next. After hitting the guardrail at about 137mph (220km / h), Grozian’s car split in half and then flared into flames – something that hasn’t happened in more than 30 years. To make matters worse, the front half got stuck between the guards who drew this part of the track. As it crashes, it is more reminiscent of the bad-old days of the F1, which claimed the lives of drivers like Roger Williamson or Franસનois Cavert.

But Grozian walked away with a small burn on his arm – easy to understand. And it is a testament to the safety that is designed in the modern F1.

Was that to be done?

While it is unusual for a modern F1 car to split in half after a collision, in this case, it was by design. Unlike the car you drive, in which the engine is mounted inside the bay inside the vehicle, in the F1 car, the engine is also the structural part that bolts the carbon fiber monocoque chassis. And in the extreme crash – this one is reported on the 50G – it will break the bolts and let both parts go their separate way of spoiling the diss.

But other F1 drivers have had a high-G effect without their car coming off. An additional factor in Sunday’s crash was a car that crashed into a guardrail barrier. Pushing over the nose of the car, the monotonous mostly traveled from there and then stopped. When the Monocock had nowhere else to go, the rear half of the car, which had an engine, gearbox and battery, and so most of the set was still running. That’s why the bolts snaped and why the rear half of the car can be seen halfway up, a few meters above the track.

No, the fuel cell did not explode

What happened next was a shock – a bright treatise of yellow flames in the air before the director was cut off. (More footage of the crash was shown in Formula 1 after Grasgen was found to be safe.) The last time an F1 crashed was in 1981, causing you to realize how unusual this was.

Those previous crashes resulted in new safety regulations requiring an F1 car that used Kevlar fuel cells based in Monocock. Protected by carbon fiber bulkhead, and the same is stable. However, the fuel has to go from the fuel cell to the engine, and although it is believed to use these dry-brake connectors, it is clear that a small amount of petrol – maybe a few kilograms – was flowing and something got hot.

The game’s technical director, Ross Brawen, called Guardrail’s penetration something that would definitely require further analysis. This type of guardrail style, also known as Armco, has been replaced by more advanced circuit protection, such as the TechPro (commonly found in Formula E and other F1 tracks) or the safer barrier, which is here in the U.S. Widely used in Indicar and Nascar. .

This year the fireproof suit became more effective

At the beginning of each race, the medical car chases the pack of cars, especially in such events quickly arriving on the spot. And luckily, the crash happened only after three turns, before it was time for the powerful station wagon in the F1 car to sink too fast. Within thirty seconds of the crash, a little smoky Grossian was assisted on the gardrail by Dr. Ian Roberts, a doctor traveling in an F1, with medical car driver Alan van der Merwe spraying both with a fire extinguisher.

That is longer than the deadline for the F1’s mandatory cockpit evacuation test, which states that the driver should be able to get out of his car within 10 seconds. But those tests take place in ideal conditions, not when your car is on fire and equipped in a gardrail. He was then fortunate that, at the beginning of the year, the F1 adopted strict requirements for firefighting wear, which every driver should wear during races.

As an F1 driver, Grozian wore long fireproof underwear, socks and three layers of fireproof overalls, fireproof gloves and fireproof shoes underneath, made from an aramid fiber called Nomax, which is very poor at conducting heat. And since the beginning of this year, all of those things have been FIA 8856-2018-friendly, requiring every garment to protect the wearer about 20 percent longer than exactly the one worn in 2019.

The halo device saved a life

Perhaps the most important safety device in yesterday’s crash was the halo device, which was unveiled for sport in 2017 after a number of serious injuries and fatal crashes in open-cockpit car drivers. It’s something that looks like the top of a flip-flop, protruding from the front of the cockpit opening and wrapped around the sides to meet the airbox behind the driver’s head.

Made of titanium and weighing 20lbs (9 kg), the halo is able to withstand the impact of 125kN without fail. It was also widely penned by fans and drivers – especially Grossgen, when it was released in 2017, largely because of what it looked like. But Grossian’s life was almost certainly saved by the halo, which prevented the top strip of the guardrail from making contact with the helmet, something that would certainly have been fatal.

Indeed, Grossgen himself is now converted. In a video posted on social media From a hospital bed in Bahiri on Sunday night, he told followers: “I wasn’t for Halo a few years ago, but I think that’s the biggest thing we’ve brought to Formula 1 and without it I wouldn’t be able to speak. Today you.” The driver, who is in his last season for the Haas team, will be out in next week’s race, which will be held at Bahrain’s Sakir Circuit, but two weeks from now he will be back in Abu Dhabi for the final part of the season.

Image listed by Tolga Bozoglu – Pool / Getty Images