F! Bahrain: Grosjean’s F1 car split in two after hitting the barrier at 137mph with a force of 53G, escaped despite the inferno
Romain Grosjean escaped from Formula 1 accident six years with burns to the back of his hands, after he hit the barrier at 137mph with an impact force of 53G, as the car broke in two, caught fire, and split the barrier.
He was struck in the inferno for nearly 30 seconds before extracting himself aided by FIA doctor Ian Roberts.
The last time an F1 car split in two was at Monaco in 1991 and caught fire in a crash in Imola in 1989. In accidents of 1973 and 1974 at Watkins Glen in the USA the drivers, Francois Cevert and Helmut Koinigg were killed.
Advances made in recent years on safety, in particular, the wishbone-shaped titanium halo head-protection device structure that wraps around the driver’s head from the front of the cockpit, introduced amid significant controversy in 2018 saved Grosjean’s life.
The Franco-Swiss triggered it himself after veering dramatically across the track between turns Three and Four and colliding with Daniil Kvyat’s Alpha Tauri which send him hurtling towards the barriers which he hit at an angle as the care speared between layers of the barrier and the twisting force generated split it in two.
Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes won his 11th victory of the season in the Bahrain Grand Prix race said “ His car, the cockpit, I don’t know what Gs he pulled, but I’m just so grateful that the halo worked. I’m grateful the barrier didn’t slice his head off. It could have been so much worse.” Max Verstappen and Alex Albon in Red Bull came second and third respectively.