The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix will be remembered for the first lap and probably for not much else. Roman Grosjean was a victim of his own making during a hectic opening lap as the back of the field jostled furiously for position. It was a typical first lap dog fight. However, as Grosjean battled his way up the order he made a kamikaze swerve to his right not realizing that the Alpha Tauri of Daniel Kvyat was behind his right rear flank. Grosjean’s Hass hit the left front wheel of the Alfa Tauri which caused the Hass to momentarily pitch 45-degrees in the air. And when all four wheels resumed traction, the Hass speared off into the armor crash barrier.

Grosjean hit the Armco at an unabated speed of 140mph. The severity of the crash caused a huge explosion as the Hass split in two. The rear came to rest a few meters away and ruptured connecting fuel lines which instantaneously sparked a dreadful fire that cascaded the driver’s cockpit. The cockpit/survival cell partially speared through the Armco barrier, twisting and bending the metal as if it were made from paper. The cockpit was embedded in the Armco at an angle like helpless prey trapped in a spider’s web. The entire incident happened within 2 seconds.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">An update from Romain himself. Pleased to see you’re in good spirits! We hope you make a speedy recovery 🙏 <a href="https://t.co/njnjjH4GBi">pic.twitter.com/njnjjH4GBi</a></p>&mdash; Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) <a href="https://twitter.com/HaasF1Team/status/1333140470604701699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The intensity of the flames was quickly dealt with by track-side marshalls and a good measure of fire retardant. The medical team was on the scene within seconds of the crash. But Grosjean remained trapped for 30 seconds as he tried to extract himself from his impaled car surrounded by a roaring fire. Somehow he managed to escape the inferno and the physical after-effects of the huge impact which registered over 50G. The only injuries he suffered were burns to his hands.

Questions will be asked about the safety of the crash barrier and its design. What isn’t in question are the safety standards implemented by Formula One. The Halo, Hans device and safety cell design of a modern F1 car all combined to save Grosjean. Grosjean was well enough to tweet from his hospital bed. The race was red-flagged for over 40 minutes. At the re-start, a low-speed roll-over incident involving the Racing Point of Lance Stroll was minor by comparison.

Nevertheless, Lewis Hamilton was largely untroubled at the front and eased his way to an 11th win of the season and 99th career victory. 

2020 Bahrain Grand Prix: Race Results

Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.