HOW DID HE SURVIVE?

Grosjean walked away from this inferno after his car was smashed and split in half

And then somehow from a fireball appeared the figure of Romain Grosjean, to leave himself and the whole of F1 asking one question: How did he survive that?

The dramatic, chilling start to the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday became a testament to Formula One’s modern-day safety regulations as the Haas driver walked away from one of the scariest crashes the sport has ever seen.

The crash, after he clipped Daniil Kvyat at 140mph, could have been so much worse.

Yet it showed the huge strides F1 has made in safety since Jules Bianchi’s tragic death in 2014.

Bianchi suffered serious head injuries in a crash at the

Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014, succumbing to them in July the following year.

Last year tragedy struck again as the sport mourned the death of Formula Two racer Anthoine Hubert at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Hubert was the first fatality at an F1 race weekend since Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died at the 1994 San Marino GP.

And, for a worrying half a minute yesterday at the Bahrain International Circuit, there were concerns for Grosjean’s survival.

The Frenchman’s car, heavy with fuel, split in two as it pierced the barrier and immediately burst into flames.

But to the relief of the watching millions, Grosjean eventually leapt away from the inferno with the help of Formula One medic Dr Ian

Roberts. Grosjean climbed out of his machine, and he was kept overnight in hospital with minor burns to his hands.

Englishman Roberts and Alan van der Merwe, the driver of the FIA’s medical car, were two of the first people on the scene to help the Frenchman.

Van der Merwe said: “It was a big surprise. I have never seen that much fire in 12 years.

“Romain got out of the car himself, which is pretty amazing after an accident like that.

“All the systems we have worked to develop, everything worked hand in hand – the halo, the barriers, the seat- belt . Everything worked.

“Without just one of those things working, it could have been a very different outcome.”

Indeed, it was F1’s halo cockpit safety device, which divided opinion when it was introduced in 2018, that proved effective and hel ped Grosjean to avoid a fatal injury.

The impact was measured at more than 50G, according to a spokesman for the FIA. “It is a miracle he is alive,” said Britain’s 1996 world champion Damon Hill, who also expressed his “absolute shock and horror” at the images of the fiery crash.

The race was delayed for an hour and 20 minutes as the barrier was replaced.

When the race restarted, there was drama again as the Racing Point of Lance Stroll collided with Kvyat’s AlphaTauri and flipped upside down.

Stroll quickly came on the radio and informed the team he was OK before climbing out.

The remainder of the race played out without incident as Lewis Hamilton held on in his Mercedes to secure victory in the first race since he was crowned a seven-time world champion a fortnight ago.

But this race will long be remembered for one man... and the day the sport was left holding its breath.