How Romain Grosjean walked away from F1’s scariest crash in decades

Formula 1 cars had barely covered a third of the track before the red flag put a temporary end to this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The start of an F1 race is often chaotic, especially in the back half of the grid, and it turned out on Sunday when Romain Grosjean’s Haas VF-20 derailed to the right after exiting turn three.

First-round accidents are not that unusual in the sport, unlike what happened afterwards. After hitting the guardrail at around 137 mph (220 km / h), Grosjean’s car tore in half and then caught fire, which has not happened for over 30 years. To make matters worse, the front half entered between the guardrails that lined this section of track. As the accidents progressed, it was more reminiscent of the bad old days of F1, the kind that claimed the lives of drivers like Roger Williamson or François Cevert.

But Grosjean left – of course carefully – with a few more injuries than a few burns to his hands. And that’s a testament to the safety designed in modern F1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ7_En2xEm4

Was he supposed to do this?

If it’s unusual to see a modern F1 car split in half after a crash, in this case it was by design. Unlike the car you drive, which has an engine mounted inside a bay inside the vehicle, in an F1 car, the engine is also a structural part that bolts to the fiberglass monocoque chassis. carbon. And in extreme crashes – this one logged over 50G – those bolts will snap and let the two halves come apart to dissipate the energy.

But other F1 drivers had high G impacts without their cars coming apart like that. The additional factor in Sunday’s crash was the car breaking through the security fence. When the nose of the car pierced, the monohull traveled most of the way and then came to a stop. While the monocoque had nowhere to go, the rear half of the car, containing the engine, gearbox, and battery – and therefore most of the mass – was still on. This is why the bolts broke and why the rear half of the car can be seen, almost intact, a few meters from the track.

No, the fuel cell did not break

What happened next was a shock – a sharp drop of yellow flame rising into the air before the director cut. (Formula One only showed more footage of the crash after knowing Grosjean was safe.) The last time an F1 crash caused a fire was in 1989, which should give you an idea of ​​how unusual this was.

This earlier crash resulted in new safety rules forcing F1 cars to use Kevlar fuel cells contained in the monocoque. And that’s where Grosjean stayed, protected by a carbon fiber bulkhead. However, the fuel must pass from the fuel cell to the engine, and although these are supposed to use snap-fit ​​connectors, it is evident that a certain amount of gasoline – probably a few kilograms – has been spilled and has encountered something hot.

Sport technical director Ross Brawn called the crash barrier penetration something that definitely needs more analysis. This style of guardrail, also known as Armco, has been replaced by much more modern circuit protection like Tecpro (commonly seen in Formula E and other F1 tracks) or the SAFER barrier, which is widely used in IndyCar and NASCAR here in the United States. .

Flame-retardant coveralls have become more effective this year

At the start of each race, a medical car chases the peloton of cars, in particular to be on site quickly during incidents like this one. And thankfully this crash happened just after turn three, before the much faster F1 cars had time to give up the mighty station wagon. Within thirty seconds of the crash, a lightly smoky Grosjean was helped onto the railing by F1 ambulance doctor Dr Ian Roberts with medical car driver Alan van der Merwe spraying them both with a extinguisher.

That’s longer than the time limit for F1’s mandatory cockpit evacuation test, which states that a driver must be able to get out of their car within 10 seconds. But these tests take place under ideal conditions, not when your car is on fire and stuck in a guardrail. Fortunately, at the start of the year, F1 adopted more stringent requirements for the flame retardant clothing every driver must wear during a race.

As an F1 driver Grosjean wore long flame retardant underwear, socks and a balaclava under a flame retardant three-layer suit, flame retardant gloves and flame retardant shoes, all made from an aramid fiber called Nomex which is very bad at conducting heat. And since the start of this year, all of these items had to comply with FIA 8856-2018, which requires each garment to protect the wearer for around 20% more than the equivalent they wore in 2019.

The halo device saved a life

Perhaps the most important safety device in yesterday’s crash was the halo device, which was introduced to the sport in 2017 after a number of serious head injuries and fatalities among drivers of open cockpit cars. It’s the thing that looks like the top of a seesaw, pushing right in front of the cockpit opening and curling around the sides to join the airbox behind the driver’s head.

Made of titanium and weighing approximately 20 lbs (9 kg), the halo must survive an impact of 125 kN without failing. It was widely criticized by fans and even drivers – especially Grosjean – when it was introduced in 2017, mainly because of its looks. But Grosjean’s life was almost certainly saved by the halo, which prevented the top bar of the guardrail from making contact with his helmet, which would almost certainly have been fatal.

Indeed, Grosjean himself is now a convert. In a video posted on social media from a Bahraini hospital bed on Sunday night, he told his fans: “I wasn’t for the Halo a few years ago, but I think it’s the best thing we’ve done in Formula 1 and without that I couldn’t speak to you today. “The French driver, who is in his last season with the Haas team, will be absent from next week’s race – which will also take place at the circuit from Sakhir to Bahrain – but could be back for the season finale in Abu Dhabi in two weeks.

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