Romain Grosjean survived a serious accident on Sunday, with his Haas F1 car crashing into the barrier during the first lap of a Bahrain GP.
Fortunately the Frenchman survived the crash, miraculously taking off after his vehicle exploded and being split in two by the impact. He suffered minor burns to his hands and ankles, but otherwise he was fine – according to the Haas F1 team.
Grosjean may have been rescued by the halo, a round barrier around the riders’ heads that was introduced after his compatriot Jules Bianchi was killed in an accident at a Japanese GP in 2015.
Following Grosjean’s incredible escape, Bianchi’s mother, Christine, sent a message to French commentator Julien Febreau to say that she was very happy to survive and that the extra security measures introduced because of her son’s death could have been what caused him not to. It’s not suffering serious damage.
French journalist @Julien_FEBREAU received a message from Jules Bianchi's mother that said:
"They introduced the Halo following my son’s accident and the Halo saved Romain’s life today. This is great. I’m glad that he’s okay."
❤️❤️❤️❤️
— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) November 29, 2020
The head of the Haas F1 team, Gunther Steiner, also thanked the marshals and FIA staff for arriving at Grosjean so quickly after his accident.
“Romain is fine, I don’t want to do medical attention but he had minor burns on his hands and ankles,” he said. “Obviously it’s shaken … I want to thank the rescue teams that are very fast. The commissioners and the FIA people did a great job, it was scary.”