Label sub-committee member Matthew Rousou discusses the horrifying crash suffered by Haas driver Romain Grosjean in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Horror in Bahrain:
The Bahrain Grand Prix did not fail to disappoint, with Lewis Hamilton winning the race directly ahead of Red Bull and McLaren respectively. However, the race will be remembered for the terrible crash into the barriers Romain Grosjean experienced in the first lap. The Haas driver collided with Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri, sending the French driver’s car straight into the barrier that led to an instant explosion of fire. Grosjean has now fortunately been discharged from hospital.
I remember watching his crash on Sunday and being flabbergasted by his whole car being engulfed by fire. I am still in disbelief that something like this could still happen. What’s more is that the French driver escaped after 20 seconds; just count to 20 slowly, and you’ll realise how crazy this is! It just shows the risk that these drivers go through each time they enter the cockpit of the car.
It’s very fitting for ex-racing driver Martin Brundle to call Grosjean’s survival “a miracle”; I feel this sums it up perfectly. The images following the crash are horrifying and amazing at the same time. His car ended up split in half from the cockpit, with the barrier also split in the middle. Grosjean himself stated that the halo probably saved his life; how we are glad that this safety innovation was introduced in last few years. When thinking about the impact of the halo, I remember a crash shown on the Netflix documentary series ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’ where a wheel would’ve hit now-Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc if it wasn’t for the halo. The title of the series is even more fitting now following last weekend’s crash, with the crash being another prime example of the need for the safety additions on F1 cars.
What was heart-warming to see after the Grosjean crash was the overwhelming support from his fellow drivers. It displays how much of a tight-knit community F1 drivers are despite competing with each other on a consistent basis. It was great to see Grosjean back at the racetrack and thanking the people that saved his life. Drivers definitely now deserve a lot more respect following the Bahrain Grand Prix after Grosjean’s crash, let alone the two Racing Point’s also having to retire from the race after the two cars were flipped upside down and on fire respectively.
Overall, it’s safe to say that we are extremely thankful that Grosjean was able to come out of his crash alive. We can thank the medics and officials that were on the scene straight away to help him once the crash occurred and after he was out of the blaze. It is brilliant that the driver suit has been designed to protect drivers from fires; this, among all of the other safety precautions and people, saved Grosjean’s life. Finally, we can thank the FIA for introducing these safety measures, as well as the drivers for risking their lives every time they race!
Edited by: Sports Editor Lois George
Header by: Annabel Smith
