Grosjean escapes huge Bahrain fire

Lewis Hamilton celebrated his seventh world championship by winning a Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday that will be remembered for Romain G r o s j e a n’s remarkable escape from his fireball inferno.

Grosjean, 34, scrambled to get out of his burning car for almost half a minute before eventually leaping away and into the arms of Fo r m u l a One doctor Englishman Ian Roberts, one of the first men on the scene.

On the opening lap, Grosjean moved to his right at the third corner, before hitting the frontleft wheel of Daniil Kvyat’s A l p h a Ta u r i , and penetrating the steel barrier at 140mph.

The force of the impact, which registered at 53G, split his machine in two.

G r o s j e a n’s cockpit instantly burst into flames, and the sport held its breath as television cameras cut hastily away from the extraordinary accident and the race was immediately stopped.

After a number of minutes, Grosjean’s Haas team mercifully reported that their driver was out of the cockpit.

He was then pictured sitting in the medical car before limping towards an ambulance, aided by Roberts and medical car driver Alan Van Der Merwe. Grosjean had leapt out of his burning machine with his racing boot missing from his left foot.

He was airlifted to the BDF Military Hospital, 10 miles north of the Bahrain International Circuit, with burns to his hands and ankles and suspected broken ribs.

It is also understood he might have broken a bone in his foot following one of the biggest accidents in F1’s recent memory.

Ha m i l t o n , who was leading the race at the time of the incident, was seen shaking his head as he watched a replay of the jaw- dropping accident from inside the Mercedes garage as the grand prix was suspended.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton tweeted: “I’m so grateful Romain is safe.

“Wow. The risk we take is no joke, for those of you out there that forget that we put our life on the line for this sport and for what we love to do.

“Thankful to the FIA for the massive strides we’ve taken for Romain to walk away from that safely.”

There will now be question marks as to how Grosjean’s car managed to penetrate a steel barrier.

But the halo device – the driver-cockpit protection system controversially introduced in 2018 – appears to have played a major role in the Frenchman’s remarkable escape.”

The race started again following a 90 - minute stoppage, but there was further drama after just eight corners when Lance Stroll was flipped upside down.

Kvyat attempted to pass the Canadian driver at the right-handed turn eight, but sent him on to the roof of his Racing Point.

Kvyat was hit with a 10-second penalty, while Stroll was given the allclear following a visit to the medical centre.

Hamilton completed two regulation stops for new tyres and comfortably kept Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who finished second, at bay.

The Briton has now led more laps this season than of any year in his F1 career, while claiming his 11 th triumph of 2020.

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez was denied a podium after an engine failure just three laps from the end.

Alexander Albon finished third for Red Bull and British driver Lando Norris took the flag in fourth.

WALKING WOUNDED: Romain Grosjean is helped by medical staff after his crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix.