Formula One driver Romain Grosjean appears to have escaped without serious injury after his car crashed and burst into flames moments after the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 34-year-old French driver slid off track on the first lap and his Haas car burst into flames after being sliced in two by a barrier. Grosjean clambered out with the fire roaring behind him and his race helmet singed.
We are so thankful that Romain Grosjean was able to walk away from this. We did not need a reminder of the bravery and brilliance of our drivers, marshals, and medical teams, nor of the advances in safety in our sport, but we truly got one today#BahrainGP ð§ð #F1 pic.twitter.com/z8OeTU5Nem
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2020
Moments later, Grosjean was shown on television chatting with the race doctor in the medical car.
Grosjean was then helped out of the car and into an ambulance. He appeared to be shaken but did not immediately seem injured other than a slight limp.
Drivers and team members stood and applauded as they saw the images of Grosjean climbing over the barrier to safety and being sprayed with a fire extinguisher.
And his escape to safety#BahrainGP ð§ð #F1 pic.twitter.com/4NJ22yVAPK
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2020
It appeared an extraordinary escape after his car was sliced in half upon impact with the barrier.
The accident happened when Grosjean lost grip and slid to the right, where his back wheel clipped the front of Daniil Kvyat's Alpha-Tauri and flew off into the barrier.
STEINER: "Romain is doing okay, I don't want to make a medical comment but he had light burns on his hands and ankles. Obviously he's shaken... I want to thank the rescue crews who are very quick. The marshals and FIA people they did a great job, it was scary"#BahrainGP ð§ð pic.twitter.com/lWbZd17ynw
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2020
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