On 29th November 2020, the Grand Prix of Bahrain took place. We note the result, but the race was almost an afterthought. The accident that happened on the first lap will go down as one of the most disturbing and frightening in recent times.
The results of qualifying were as follows:
Top Ten:
Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Albon, Perez, Ricciardo, Ocon, Gasly, Norris, Kvyat,
Followed by
Vettel, Leclerc, Stroll, Russell, Sainz, Giovinazzi, Raikkonen, Magnussen, Grosjean and Latifi.
The cars completed the formation lap and lined up on the grid. The lights went out. Hamilton got a good start. Bottas didn’t. Verstappen moved up to second, with Perez making it to third by the time the cars had rounded the first corner. Bottas lost four places at the start. In the background, we saw Stroll go off the track and then through the dust, at turn3, we saw two other cars come together. Grosjean cut across Kvyat and ran straight into the barrier.
We saw a fire ball.
Immediately the red flag came out. In the background we saw the medical car pull up beside the Grosjean’s burning car.
We saw the cars return to the pits. We held our breath.
We exhaled as we heard that Romain Grosjean had gotten out of the car. We saw him in the medical car receiving assistance from Dr Ian Roberts. Romain, clearly in shock, was helped to the ambulance to go to the medical centre. The luck that this happened on lap 1, with the medical car on the scene immediately, was not lost on anyone. Alan van der Moewe, the medical car driver, pulled up in seconds and Dr Roberts was able to help Romain from the burning car as Alan operated the fire extinguisher, not on the car, but on the driver and the doctor.
The site of the crash was actually at a service road and marshals were stationed nearby. Fortunately, none of them were hurt in the accident.
Replays showed the extent of the accident. The Haas had split in half. The front half went through the barrier. Tyres came off and one went over the barrier, another across the track. That Grosjean managed to escape from this accident was nothing short of miraculous. This was a very high speed impact. The barrier was split apart. The Halo took the impact, certainly saving Grosjean from serious or fatal consequences.
The re-start of the race was delayed whilst the barrier was replaced. A shocked pitlane watched the replays. An accident with that amount of fire had not been seen for many years. It was an accident that looked worse every time it was replayed.
A medical helicopter took Romain Grosjean to the hospital for further checks and observation. The good news was that Romain was conscious; his injuries were reported as burns on his hands and ankles, possible broken ribs and he was very shaken.
We will return to the accident and its consequences at the end of this report.
The race re-started from lap 3, with the drivers lining up from the positions they were in at safety car line 2.
Hamilton got away again, with Verstappen and Perez making good starts in second and third.
Immediately, there was a safety car as Lance Stroll made contact with the Alpha Tauri of Kvyat and rolled over, coming to rest with Stroll upside down in the car. Fortunately, there was little harm done and Stroll emerged unhurt.
Vettel was on his radio, furious with his team mate who had squeezed him out of position.
The luckless Bottas picked up a puncture and had to pit for new tyres.
Kevin Magnussen had a coming together with another car and had to pit for a new front wing.
The safety car came in on lap 8 and racing resumed. Lewis started lap 9 in the lead. Ocon and Leclerc got in a mighty scrap with Ocon emerging in front. Sainz gets past Ricciardo to take 8th place.
Lap 11 brought DRS into play. Hamilton was still out in front, over a second ahead. Bottas was still trying to get past Vettel for 15th.
Lap 12 saw Sainz make a spectacular pass on Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver tried to fight back but doesn’t manage to make a move on Sainz and an opportunistic Ricciardo gets past Leclerc as well. A lap later Gasly got past Leclerc for 8th place. Kvyat is awarded a 10 second penalty for the incident with Stroll. Vettel reports that his car is undriveable.
Lap 17 saw the first scheduled pit stop from Daniel Ricciardo in the Renault. He emerges in last place on a new set of hard tyres. His teammate, Ocon, pits next lap. Ocon changes to medium tyres. Kvyat also pits to take his 10 second penalty and take on fresh tyres. He re-joins the race with the Alfa Romeo of Raikkonen, who had stopped for tyres and a new front wing, right behind him.
Lap 19: Norris in the McLaren pits. He emerges ahead of the two Renaults.
Lap 20: Hamilton pits from the lead and he changes onto medium tyres. Albon pits from 4th.
The Renaults continued to make progress, with Ocon getting past Latifi and Ricciardo squeezing his way around Giovinazzi. He follows up by passing Latifi. Verstappen and Perez pit, putting Hamilton back in the lead. Russell and Giovinazzi also take pitstops, as does Vettel, who was reporting that his car bore no resemblance to the one he drove in qualifying. Seb was clearly not enjoying himself.
On lap 22 Sainz pits his McLaren for a new set of mediums from 3rd place and emerges in 10th place.
Perez retakes 3rd place from Gasly, who has much older tyres. Shortly after, Alex Albon overtakes Gasly in his Red Bull to move up to 4th. He sets off in pursuit of Perez. Bottas has managed to make his way through the field to 6th place behind Gasly. On lap 26, however, Norris catches Bottas to take the 6th place from the Finn. Gasly finally pits for fresh tyres, followed by Bottas. Sainz, who is having a great race, gets past Ricciardo for 7th.
At the half way point, Hamilton leads, followed by Verstappen, Perez, Albon, Norris, Sainz, Ocon, Ricciardo, Gasly and Leclerc rounding out the top ten. Bottas is 11th, followed by Russell, Kvyat, Raikkonen, Giovinazzi, Vettel, Latifi and Magnussen in 18th.
Lap 30: Renault swap Ocon and Ricciardo who had much younger tyres, with Ricciardo moving up to 7th. Hamilton starts to stretch his lead over Verstappen to over 5 seconds. Perez is 16 seconds behind Verstappen in 3rd.
Lap 32: Bottas finally gets past Leclerc to take the last points position of 10th.
Lap 34: Kvyat pits and gets a better stop than his last one. Verstappen pits, but the Red Bull team were uncharacteristically slow, taking over 5 seconds. Albon follows Verstappen into the pits, and the pit stop goes without a hitch.
Lap 35: Ocon pits and emerges in 12th.
Lap 36: Hamilton pits from the lead and emerges from the pits still in the lead, in front of Perez with Verstappen in 3rd.
Lap 37: Perez pits. He re-joins behind Sainz in 5th place. The two Renaults are fighting again, with Ocon getting past Ricciardo just after the Australian had emerged from the pits. Their duel continues on the next lap and Ricciardo gets past Ocon with the aid of DRS.
Lap 39: Norris pits. Albon overtakes Sainz and Bottas takes another pit stop and re-joins the race in 11th place, out of the points.
Lap 40: Carlos Sainz, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel take pit stops. Sainz overtakes his future teammate Leclerc again.
Lap 43 marks Lewis Hamilton leading 600 laps this season. Bottas overtakes Ocon for 9th place illustrating the contrasting fortunes of the Mercedes drivers.
Lap 44: Norris overtakes Gasly for 5th place.
Lap 47: Verstappen takes another pit stop, which goes without a hitch this time. He retains second place and goes for the fastest lap point.
Lap 51: Sainz overtakes Gasly to take 6th place.
With five laps to go, Hamilton is comfortably out in front, with a 20 second lead over Verstappen, with Perez in third.
On lap 54, there was heartbreak for the Racing Point team as Perez’s car became engulfed in smoke as his power unit gave up, finally coming to a halt on lap 55, bringing out the safety car.
The Bahrain Grand Prix finishes under the safety car, with Hamilton in first place, with the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Albon making up the podium in second and third.
The McLarens did a great job in front of their Bahraini backers, coming home in 4th and 5th. Gasly took 6th in the Alpha Tauri, with Ricciardo in 7th, Bottas eventually made it over the line with another puncture in 8th, Ocon in 9th and Leclerc bringing Ferrari a solitary point in 10th.
The fans overwhelmingly voted Romain Grosjean driver of the day.
The horrific accident that occurred on lap 1 will be investigated thoroughly by the FiA and Formula One Management. Even five years ago, it is likely that this accident would have been fatal. The halo almost certainly saved Grosjean’s life as it took the impact, rather than Grosjean’s head. Fires are not common in Formula One in modern times. Again, we have to be thankful for the technological advances that meant that even though Grosjean’s visor melted, he did not suffer from smoke inhalation. The rigorous training that the drivers are required to undertake, to demonstrate that they can exit the cockpit in an emergency paid dividends, with Romain remarkably managing to free himself in approximately 20 seconds. The medical car was exactly where it needed to be and the marshals all did a fine job in bringing Romain to safety and to put out the fire.
There are still questions to be answered. It is a long time since there was such a serious fire in Formula One and the causes of that will be discovered and learned from. I am sure that this will happen. The FiA and Formula One Management have a strong history of investigating and learning from these accidents. I have every confidence in them on this point.
Romain Grosjean has suffered burns to his hands. He will leave hospital on 1st December but will miss the next grand prix.
By Clare Topic
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