Romain Grosjean horror crash proves drivers risk their lives driving F1 "beasts" - Carlos Sainz

Bahrain Grand Prix

Grosjean horror crash proves drivers risk their lives driving F1 "beasts" - Sainz

Sainz described the angst of not having any information on Grosjean's condition in the immediate aftermath of the crash

Ewan Gale

Monday 30 November 2020 12:46

McLaren driver Carlos Sainz believes Romain Grosjean's horror crash at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix was a demonstration that the drivers risk their lives each time they "jump into these beasts".

Grosjean's incident sent shockwaves through Formula 1 as scenes of his Haas splitting into two and igniting on contact with a barrier, followed by the heroic images of FIA medical car operators Alan van der Merwe and Dr Ian Roberts as well as fire marshals located at the scene, left many holding their breath.

Sainz described the harrowing feeling of driving back to the pits knowing only that the car was ablaze and cited the incident as a platform for the sport to continue to learn about future safety implementations.

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"Honestly, especially the in-lap during the red flag, to see a car on fire and not get any information on how the driver was was a very bad experience," he told Sky Sports F1.

"[It was] a very impressive situation in itself seeing a big fire around the track but thank God we saw Romain jumping out of the car when we got back to the pits. From then on, it was a big relief.

"I think it is a great opportunity today to keep learning to keep making the cars and sport safer, at the same time it is just a demonstration that every time we jump into these beasts, we are putting our lives in a compromised situation and that has to be respected and it was proof that freak accidents can still happen in Formula 1.

Drivers were left waiting in the pits for an hour and 25 minutes whilst the scene was cleared and new barriers put in place.

When asked if he had any consideration of pulling-out of the race, the Spaniard replied: "From my side, no.

"I have full confidence of what the FIA is doing, how they are handling the sport. Very good proof is the way we have introduced the halo and how it keeps making the sport safer and keeps demonstrating to all those stupid critics about the halo is just ugly and is making the car heavier.

"It is not worth it. We all want to see the drivers back after they come from the car and put in a good show in the fastest sport possible.

"So I had no doubts that I wanted to restart the race. I saw they were putting the barrier back together, a provisional one and that felt safe enough."