Formula 1 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2020

Structural integrity of the survival cell/halo aside, I'm convinced that Grosjean is an absolute unit.

To have the ability to still be conscious and essentially save himself after an impact that heavy is a miracle. Then to walk to the medical car cemented that status. Fifty-three Gs isn't anything to scoff at!

 

Have you ever taken a look at an F1 driver's neck? They're all absolute units.

Take for example Hulkenberg when he filled in. He's still a very fit man, but his neck just collapsed during the races.

 

There's an interesting video from Toto Wolff when he had a massive crash at the Nurburgring in 2009. He crashed at top speed, came to a stop, flicked all the switches to Turn the car off, jumped out and over the wall, then collapsed behind the barrier. If you're conscious, survival instinct and adrenaline can make even the most broken bones do anything to get you out of danger.

 

Indeed. Wolff has no memory of the crash, iirc?

Genuine fight-or-die adrenaline makes absolute units of all kinds of people, I think that's what we saw. Anyway, Brundle would have jogged shakily back to the pits, got in the T-car and asked which way it was out of the pit lane.

The real hero here is, imo, Jean Todt. The halo that he mandated was what pushed the upper armco open. Otherwise it would have been Grosjean's crash helmet (supported by his neck) loaded up against that barrier. The injuries from that would likely have been similar to the vertical force trauma that Jules Bianchi suffered.

 

Ricciardo has slammed the copious amount of replays of Grosjean's crash during the delay. I get that they waited until we could see Grosjean was OK and only lightly hurt, but I can see why he was angry.

MotoGP had the same thing earlier this year in Austria when the bikes went either side of Rossi at the hairpin.

I get that its what we want to see to understand the crash, but maybe each replay twice is enough? Maybe, but then again you've got an hour and a half to wait and not much racing to show replays of to a tv audience. Once we have an all-clear from Grosjean on his injuries and if they're not too bad, I can see this crash and the spectacular if shocking images being milked by the media outlets, whether that's right or not. That said, the Kubica crash in Canada wasn't quite milked as much as it could have been.

 

An update from Romain.

 

No broken bones, just minor burns

 

I didnt follow the race live as I haven't been watching the races recently, so when I read that Grosjean had had an off and the car went up I wasn't too surprised or concerned. But as I began to discover the details and see the pictures, especially the ash grey survival cell, I genuinely got a fright. I think we came very close to losing a driver again today, and I admit that as an F1 fan perhaps I have become blasé about the dangers that these guys can face at any moment. Glad he is ok.

 

That was the worst crash that I've seen.

 

Too soon, I know...

From r/formuladank (those guys are on fire today)


Grosjean failed the crashbreaker

 

I understand where you're coming from. I think it's just that it's the type of crash no one would have ever expected to see in the modern era of Formula 1.

 

The race airs at around midnight my time, so I was asleep when it happened, but Jesus Christ... that was straight up terrifying. Easily the most shocking crash I’ve seen in years, I can’t imagine what it was like for you guys who watched it live without knowing the outcome.

Very glad to see him ok and in good spirits.

 

Grand Prix car safety has come a long way, that's thankfully for certain.

I'll leave it at that.

 

I wonder if they will release the onboard now that Grosjean is okay.

 

I doubt it. They usually don't. We'll have to wait for the "Top 10 onboards" video later this week, but it'll cut off before the impact I'm sure.

 

Ive seen it probably 20 times now. Iam still astonished he got out ok, ive never seen anything like it with modern cars. Hes cheated death. Reckon all those metal barriers will now be replaced with something like tekpro at all circuits. Cant have barriers splitting like that nowadays.

 

Watched the race delayed this evening and can only echo what everyone else has said, the worst F1 accident I've seen "live" and an absolute miracle he's survived.

As someone else said I wouldn't be surprised if he never gets in another race car. He has a family, take that as a blessing and enjoy your life.

 

Grosjean driver of the day lol

Empirical evidence that your average sports fan is low IQ

 

You can see Roman putting his arm on the barrier at 9 seconds trying to get up, the medical car was only just pulling up.

Amazing how the halo was intact and the air intake structure, they seemed to have kept Roman safe going through.

Going to be interesting how it's reviewed, you instinctively say the barrier shouldn't open up but also it's designed to spread the g forces. A stronger one could be fatal and another flexible one could see the cell rebound.

Just so glad he wasn't unconscious and got out of there, just incredible.

I wonder what type of protection the medics will have too. The guy had an open helmet and felt the heat.

 

No, it's not, it's compassion towards a loved driver who almost saw death today...

On other note, pretty sure Kvyat's onboard perception didn't see it as we saw it on the t-cam but this take is incredible







Due to the red color, you can argue it was the tail light turning on as a crash sign, but it's like the car instantly ignited at the first touch (without splitting even), simply incredible...

 

Because he totally wasn't viewed as a running joke by a good portion of the fan base prior to today.

I get having compassion towards the guy considering that was a very nasty crash, but it seems very disingenuous when people start acting like he was popular for something other than being a good source for memes.

 

Plus, that crash, like most in his career, was his fault.

 

It's possible to argue he was making an evasive maneuver, but in the end, he could have backed off and not swerved into Kvyat (who then felt bad for not being at fault and proceeded to cause Stroll to tumble).

 

What in the world is that one marshal behind the barrier using as an extinguisher? That's pathetic. Thank goodness for the one marshal from the other side of the track with a proper extinguisher.

 

You can be compassionate without pretending he drove well. That was an objectively poor performance and if it were a gentler accident he'd just be ridiculed for driving like Grosjean.

 

I don't think Grosjean will race again. Haas won't have a spare car for him and they won't bother making another with 2 races left in the championship.

All the safety should be praised for saving his life, or it would've been a very different story. Unfortunately, Grosjean will always be remembered for this crash, highlighting his lack of judgement and ability. At the top level of motorsport, you cannot be making stupid moves across the track on the first lap. It could've been avoided.

 

That was astonishing.

I don't think I have seen a crash in the modern era, or even from the 90's or 80's that ended in the car actually bursting into flames like that. That's enough to completely blow my mind.

Then I don't even know what to think, I still am just shaken up a bit thinking about how we almost witnessed an incident like Cevert/Koinigg in the modern era, where you take comfort, unwisely, thinking that we are past that era and the sport is 'safe' now. So, so relieved that Grosjean is not seriously hurt.

 

It looks like a hose. For water.

Really glad Romain survived that, even if it was his fault, we ask these men to risk their lives for our entertainment and anything we can do to protect them is worth it.

 

From now on I will switch the halo in F1 games on.