Hamilton wins in Bahrain as Grosjean survives fireball crash
sakhir — Lewis Hamilton powered to victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday in a race overshadowed by a horrific crash for French driver Romain Grosjean.
Briton Hamilton, crowned world champion for a record-equalling seventh time last time out in Turkey, held off the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon to claim his 95th F1 win.
The race was delayed after Grosjean survived a frightening collision with a barrier on the opening lap. He was taken to hospital with suspected fractured ribs and burns to his hands and feet after his crash which was followed by another accident that saw Racing Point driver Lance Stroll rescued from his overturn car.
Lando Norris came home fourth ahead of his McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz with Pierre Gasly taking sixth for Alpha Tauri and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo seventh.
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished eighth, having suffered a puncture, ahead of Esteban Ocon in the second Renault and Ferrari’s Charles
Leclerc.
Hamilton’s victory, his 11th of the season, lifted him 131 points clear of Bottas in the championship, which he has won already.
However, his initial reaction was one of relief for Grosjean. “It was such a shocking image to see and it shows the amazing job F1 and the FIA have done for him to walk away from something like that.”
Race officials and drivers praised the modern safety systems developed for Formula One on Sunday after Romain Grosjean survived a high-speed crash and fireball blaze on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Safety and official medical car driver Alan van der Merwe was on the scene within seconds as he followed the field after the start of the race and along with chief medical officer Dr Ian Roberts they battled the blaze to save Grosjean’s life.
“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” said 1996 world champion Damon Hill, who was Ayrton Senna’s teammate at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when the Brazilian was killed.
Van der Merwe said: “It was a big surprise for us as well, we’ve never seen that much fire in 12 years.
“Romain started to get out of the car himself which was pretty amazing after an accident like that.”
Grosjean was taken to hospital, with reports suggesting he had also suffered a suspected broken rib.
“I’m so grateful Romain is safe,” world champion Lewis Hamilton wrote on Twitter.—