Romain Grosjean "upbeat" in hospital with "nothing broken" after Bahrain GP

Romain Grosjean

Grosjean "upbeat" in hospital with "nothing broken" after Bahrain GP

Haas driver happy in hospital after shocking incident in Bahrain

Will Gray

Sunday 29 November 2020 20:45

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed Romain Grosjean is “upbeat” but will remain in hospital overnight after surviving a shocking crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The French driver was flown to hospital after stepping out of an inferno when he crashed on the first lap of the race but, astonishingly, it appears he has escaped relatively unscathed.

Steiner said: “I just spoke with him, I talked with him on the phone he is in a clear state of mind, he is good.

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“He is still staying in the hospital overnight they want to keep him there, but he told me and the doctor that he feels good, it seems nothing is broken.

“He has his hands bandaged from the burns but otherwise he has no burns so he was very upbeat, I would say. I am very happy”

Confirming the condition of the Frenchman Haas later released a statement which read: "Following medical evaluation by doctors at the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Hospital Haas F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean will remain in hospital overnight to be treated for burns sustained on the back of both hands after his opening lap incident at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"All X-rays performed on Grosjean came back clear of fractures."

The team also confirmed the velocity of the crash, adding: "[The] impact speed was 221kph before the logger stopped."

Things went quiet immediately after the crash, as FIA doctor Ian Roberts and medical car driver Alan van der Merwe worked at the scene, and Steiner had to maintain calm in the team as they tried to find out what was happening.

He admitted it was “hard” not to know the situation but praised the team on the ground for helping to save his driver’s life.

Asked if the FIA had informed the team while the rescue took place he said: “There was not enough time to do that, we saw the pictures, saw him put him in the car, then when they took him to the medical centre they told us that he was there.

“It was hard but what we tried to do was give [the team] immediately the good news everything is fine, just inform them of what is happening, because the whole shock.

“As soon as we knew everything was ok, the chief engineer went over the radio to tell them he was out the car, he was good, and then the pictures came, which speak more than words.

“I need to go and thank them [the FIA team]. It is emotional for me, to be brave, because Dr. Roberts has gone there, and Alan behind with the fire extinguisher just doing the right thing to try to keep it away from him.

“I think there was no time to make a plan, these guys know what they are doing and I was impressed by this. Also the marshal, the marshal who was there did a great job, fair play to him."