‘I don’t know how he got out’ - How F1’s drivers viewed Grosjean’s "scary" crash

Formula 1 drivers have provided their perspectives of Romain Grosjean’s “horrible” fiery accident on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Contact with Daniil Kvyat sent Grosjean spearing off into the Turn 3 barriers, an impact which ripped his Haas car in half before it dramatically burst into flames.

The Frenchman miraculously survived the horrific crash and was able to clamber out of his wrecked car with the aid of the medical team. Grosjean has since been taken to hospital with a suspected broken rib and burns to his hands and ankles.

F1 boss Ross Brawn says the championship will launch a “deep investigation” into Grosjean’s horrendous incident, adding “there’s absolutely no doubt the Halo was the factor that saved the day and saved Romain”.

After the race finished following lengthy delays, the drivers gave their reaction to Grosjean’s first-lap shunt.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton praised the work of the FIA to improve standard and said Grosjean’s “horrifying” accident acted as a reminder of the danger drivers face in F1.

"It was such a shocking image to see," Hamilton said.

"When I get in the car, I know that I'm taking risk, and I respect the dangers that are in this sport. I posted about it [on social media] whilst I was in that break because it's horrifying.

"The cockpit, I don't know what Gs he pulled, but I'm just so grateful that the halo worked.

"I'm grateful the barrier didn't slice his head off or something like that. It could have been so much worse."

Sebastian Vettel admitted it was not easy to view the footage of the accident. 

“I haven’t looked at the images a lot because I didn’t really want to, but the main thing is he got out. I don’t know how to be honest,” said Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

“But obviously the guardrail is not supposed to fail like that. I mean it’s good the cars are safer than they used to be in the past but the guardrail shouldn’t fail and the car shouldn’t catch fire in that fashion.

“There are a lot of precautions so that it doesn’t fail, so I don’t know what happened there. I think it’s difficult to say at this stage but the main thing is obviously that he got out.”

Kvyat, who was involved in the accident, admitted he was initially annoyed at Grosjean for suddenly moving across on him before realising the true severity of the situation.

“It was a scary moment,” Kvyat explained. “I saw him and at first I was really angry he came across at me like this, I thought what is he doing? But then my mind changed immediately when I saw in my mirrors the fire and I was just hoping he was OK.

"I didn’t like what I saw in my mirrors and I’m glad he’s OK. This just reminds you what we do is dangerous.”

Williams’ George Russell echoed Brawn’s comments about the role the Halo played in enabling Grosjean to walk away from the crash relatively unscathed.

“I mean unbelievable,” Russell replied when asked for his reaction.

“Had the halo not been there I’m sure it would have been an incredibly different outcome. The way he walked away anyway was incredible.

“I’ve not had an update but I think he’s fine from what I understand. Incredible. I guess safety has moved along so much in recent years so we can only be grateful.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc described how he witnessed the crash live in his mirrors, before immediately radioing in to his team to ask for an update on whether the drivers involved were OK.

“I saw it live in my mirrors and I came straight away on the radio, I was very worried if you hear my radio messages,” Leclerc said.

“Obviously I just wanted to have the good news that Romain was OK. Arriving into Turn 9 I still had no news and I saw the fire so I was starting to worry a lot. But luckily he’s fine but I don’t know how fine he is let’s say, but the good thing is he jumped out of the car, and it’s incredible.

“I mean if you see the crash, also me I struggle to believe once he jumped out of the car. Congratulations for the guys that are doing the safety.”

Piere Gasly was left shocked after seeing the replays of the accident on TV during the red-flag period, and revealed the he immediately sent a message to his compatriot wishing him a speedy recovery.

“Honestly it was horrible,” Gasly added. “Initially I didn’t know what had happened and when I saw the images I was shocked because from my generation I have never seen things like this.

“In the past it was more common but it was really scary. When I saw Romain had got out of the car I was happy to see him jumping out. I had no idea that Formula 1 cars could break that way and especially go through the barriers.

“The Halo seemed to be particularly working and during the red flag I sent him a text wishing him a good recovery. It was just a really scary thing to see.”

Despite seeing his hopes of a deserved podium cruelly taken away due to a late engine failure three laps from home, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez said Grosjean’s accident brought things into perspective for him.

“It was a scary accident, and to know that we need to get back into the car in a couple of minutes was a big shock,” the out-of-contract Mexican explained.

“I was just a bit relieved that he was OK with only minor injuries. But to stay in the zone and focus, it was extremely hard. When I had to retire it was a big hit personally, but after what happened today it really put everything into perspective.

"For me, one podium more, one podium less. It doesn’t matter. The most important thing of the day is that Romain is with us.”