Grosjean recounts his crash

[PTRACER]

I think this will go down as one of the biggest accidents I have ever seen where the driver walked away. I know this forum has a lot of crash photos and was primarily a crash forum at one point, but I still find it hard to watch that footage.

"For me it wasn't quite 28 seconds, it felt more like 1m30s if I'd put a time on it. When the car came to a stop, I opened my eyes, and undid my seatbelt straight away. The thing I didn't remember the next days what what did I do with the steering wheel because I don't have the memory of taking the steering wheel off and putting it out?

"The team said no, the steering had gone in between your legs, the column and everything broke and went down. I didn't have to bother with the steering wheel then, so I tried to jump out. But I felt like something was touching my head, so I sit back down in the car and my first thought was, I'm going to wait. I'm upside down against the wall, so I'm going to wait that come someone comes and helps me."

"I wasn't in distress and obviously I didn't know there was this fire. Then I look right and left and watching on the left, I see fire. So I say, okay, I don't really have the time to wait here.

"So the next thing is that I tried to go up a bit more on the right, and it doesn't work. I go again on the left, it doesn't work. I sit back down and then I thought about Niki Lauda, his accident, and thought, yeah, it couldn't end like this. It couldn't be my last race. It couldn't finish like this. No way. So I try again. And I'm stuck."

"I go back down and then there's the less pleasant moment where my body started to relax. I'm at peace with myself and I'm going to die. I asked my question: is it going to burn my shoe, or my foot or my hand? Is it going to be painful? Where is it going to start?

"To me that looks like two, three or four seconds. I guess it will be milliseconds at a time. And then, I think about my kids, and they cannot lose their dad today. So I don't know why I did it, but I decided to turn my helmet on the left hand side and to go up and then try to twist my shoulder. That sort of worked.

"But then I realised my foot is stuck in the car. So I sit back down. I pull as hard as I can on my left leg. The shoe stayed where my foot was, but my foot came out of the shoe.

"And then I do it again and then the shoulder is going through [the gap] and, at the time the shoulder was through, I know I'm going to jump out. I've got both hands on the fire that time.

"My gloves are red normally, and I see, especially the left one, changing colour, starting melting and going full black. I feel the pain that my hands are in the fire, but also I feel the relief that I am out of the car.

"Then I jump out, I go on the barrier and then I feel Ian [Roberts, F1 doctor] pulling on my overalls. So, I know I'm not on my own anymore and there is someone with me."

"When I land and then they touch on my back, I'm like, 'Oh shit, I'm like a running fireball. I had that image that we've seen a video from the FIA when they did a test, they put someone on fire and he runs around just to show the overalls were strong. I've got an image that I've got fire following me.

"Then I shake my hand because they're very hot in pain. I removed my gloves straight away because I've got also that image that the skin is in bubbles and melting, and it's going to stick to the gloves. So straight away I want to remove both of my gloves so that the skin doesn't go with it.

"Then Ian comes to see me and speaks to me and says 'Sit down!' I gave him shit and said, 'talk to me normally please'. I guess he understood that I was okay at a time, that I was normal.

"And then we sit and we're too close to the fire and I hear the extinguisher guys from the fire saying 'the battery is on fire, bring some other extinguisher bring some other extinguisher'.

"Then we go into the medical car. Sit down. They put some cold compress on my hand. I told them my hands are burned, my foot is broken. But then the pain really starts going very high, especially on the left foot. The hands were okay at a time, the left foot starts being very painful."

"Ian explains to me the ambulance is coming and they're going to come with the bed and I'm going to be okay. We keep talking at the time. And I say 'no, no, no we are walking to the ambulance'. They say. 'no, no, no, the bed is coming'. I say 'no no no', and I walk out of the car and I say we are walking. They then say okay we're going to help you.

"I guess on the medical side it wasn't the perfect decision but they understood that for me it was key at the point that there was some footage of me walking towards the ambulance, even though I'd walked out of the fire.

"I needed to send another strong message that I was okay and I was going to walk towards the ambulance.

"After that every time I met anyone, I would say two burned hands, one broken foot. That's all I could say to everyone that I was meeting. I was scared obviously of my condition and I wanted everyone that was coming in and treating me to know what the symptoms were.

"But that is the full story of the 28 seconds. As you can imagine, it looked longer than 28 seconds with all the thoughts I had, so they must have been milliseconds."

[Everso Biggyballies]

Yeah an interesting recollection that is quite chilling when you think of him having all these recollections of such a short period of time.. Like he remembers every split second in detail.

It is so lucky he did not get a knock on the head and lose consciousness. Or that his foot had remained stuck and he was conscious but unaable to get out. I read that he has always favoured driving boots with velcro rather than laces. Seems like the boot releasing and coming off may have certainly allowed him to get out in such a timely fashion. Laces might well have added several seconds more to his exit time.

For all the safety improvements and things that saved him there was also an enormous amount of luck involved.... the fact the car was not wedged against the barrier or even upside down, or that there was no barrier or other debris impeding his exit.. It probably took Stroll longer to get out of his upturned car than Grosjean did.

[Star]

He was a very lucky bloke wasn't he? That made for some interesting but uncomfortable reading at times.

As I said before, I see why he's determined to send out certain messages like walking to the ambulance and why he wants to get back in the car again next weekend. I say good luck to him, it won't be easy for him at all I'm thinking.

[Everso Biggyballies]

He was a very lucky bloke wasn't he? That made for some interesting but uncomfortable reading at times.

As I said before, I see why he's determined to send out certain messages like walking to the ambulance and why he wants to get back in the car again next weekend. I say good luck to him, it won't be easy for him at all I'm thinking.

I can see why he wants to get out in the car next weekend. It is likely to be his last ever F1 race / GP, and Im sure he doesnt want to leave F1 with last weeks as his parting shot.

[John]

Nasty read.

[strad]

"But then I realised my foot is stuck in the car. So I sit back down. I pull as hard as I can on my left leg. The shoe stayed where my foot was, but my foot came out of the shoe

I was reminded of Ronnie Petersons crash at Monza anyway, then I read this and was really struck by the comparison the Ronnie's wreck.
If you remember Ronnie was stuck, held by his foot when Hunt got to him to try to pull him out.

[caneparo]

"But then I realised my foot is stuck in the car. So I sit back down. I pull as hard as I can on my left leg. The shoe stayed where my foot was, but my foot came out of the shoe

I was reminded of Ronnie Petersons crash at Monza anyway, then I read this and was really struck by the comparison the Ronnie's wreck.
If you remember Ronnie was stuck, held by his foot when Hunt got to him to try to pull him out.

Yeah me too i thought if that, jacky icky, regazzoni too

Btw welcome back here!

[strad]

Thanks,,,

[Everso Biggyballies]

"But then I realised my foot is stuck in the car. So I sit back down. I pull as hard as I can on my left leg. The shoe stayed where my foot was, but my foot came out of the shoe

I was reminded of Ronnie Petersons crash at Monza anyway, then I read this and was really struck by the comparison the Ronnie's wreck.
If you remember Ronnie was stuck, held by his foot when Hunt got to him to try to pull him out.

Very true.... I had not thought of it in that comparison.... in my mind it was always compared to Lauda because of the fire aspect alone.

[Star]

He was a very lucky bloke wasn't he? That made for some interesting but uncomfortable reading at times.

As I said before, I see why he's determined to send out certain messages like walking to the ambulance and why he wants to get back in the car again next weekend. I say good luck to him, it won't be easy for him at all I'm thinking.

I can see why he wants to get out in the car next weekend. It is likely to be his last ever F1 race / GP, and Im sure he doesnt want to leave F1 with last weeks as his parting shot.

For himself I think Romain needs to get in the car and prove to himself that he can still do it. It's a bit like getting back onto a bike or a horse when you've been thrown isn't it? Plus as you say, it's his last chance and won't want to leave it by crashing the way he did.

[Everso Biggyballies]

He was a very lucky bloke wasn't he? That made for some interesting but uncomfortable reading at times.

As I said before, I see why he's determined to send out certain messages like walking to the ambulance and why he wants to get back in the car again next weekend. I say good luck to him, it won't be easy for him at all I'm thinking.

I can see why he wants to get out in the car next weekend. It is likely to be his last ever F1 race / GP, and Im sure he doesnt want to leave F1 with last weeks as his parting shot.

For himself I think Romain needs to get in the car and prove to himself that he can still do it. It's a bit like getting back onto a bike or a horse when you've been thrown isn't it? Plus as you say, it's his last chance and won't want to leave it by crashing the way he did.

He has set his sights on returning for Abu Dhabi, but has said he wont risk permanent damage should he not be 100%.
He has also mentioned the fact that he might try to arrange a private test next year just to finish on more of a high than last weekends exit might.
He is also saying that with the Covid situation there is always a chance he might be able to sub for someone if needed.
It seems he is being quite sensible about the whole process.

Romain Grosjean is hopeful that he can conduct a private Formula 1 test early next year if he is unable to take part in the Abu Dhabi GP.

The Frenchman returned to the paddock on Wednesday following his miraculous escape from an opening lap crash in the Bahrain Grand Prix, which required him to spend three nights in hospital while burns to his hands were treated.

Grosjean is being replaced for this weekend's Sakhir GP by Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi, but is still intent on contesting the 2020 season finale, his final grand prix for the team, if his burns heal sufficiently.

Speaking in a Zoom call with media on Friday, Grosjean explained that skin grafts to his left hand are still a possibility and if it is not possible for him to start, he would like to have a private outing to in effect get some closure on his F1 career.

"Jumping back in the car, it's been my life, and I would like to cross the finish line properly when I finish my career in F1," he said.

"I don't really want it to be over on that day. Even if the footage of having a Haas crossing at the back of the field will be less dramatic and probably less broadcasted around the world, I would like to.

"If it doesn't happen, it's okay, I will have other opportunities to cross other finish lines in the future.

"The doctors say that is difficult to know yet. The right hand 100% will be ready.

"The strength and the mobility in the left hand gets better day after day. The strength is here.

"The mobility, there's still a lot of swelling from the inflammation. So, this needs to start reducing. But grafts haven't been ruled out yet.

"I'm joking, I'm happy, but the pain of the last two days has been high. I'm quite strong with pain. I broke my right hand early this year, falling down in the kitchen.

"I haven't told anyone, but it was an open break, two bones I put myself in place, and went to the hospital, and the pain was okay, so I'm very strong with some pain."

Grosjean stressed that one of his main concerns is that a premature return may cause permanent damage to his left hand, saying while racing in Abu Dhabi was important to him, it was "not as important as living a normal life for the rest of my life".

"I won't take to risk losing mobility of my left index and left thumb for the rest of my life, just to go to Abu Dhabi," he said.

"The story would be beautiful to go to Abu Dhabi. If I don't, I'll call every single F1 team and see if anyone would offer me a private test in January or so, to jump back in the car, and have 10-15 laps to myself.

He added that the target of an Abu Dhabi is helping him to "keep positive and keep moving" as he recovers, revealing he felt "fine" after looking over the wreckage of his car.

"The first step yesterday was to go to the track, and one of the first things I did was go to the car, and I looked over the halo and cockpit just to see if there were any strange feelings, panic, scare moments, and it was fine," he said.

"Already that's kind of a positive step.

"On Sunday night the first video call I did with my wife and kids, and my dad was there, I said, 'I will race in Abu Dhabi'.

"You can imagine their reaction, they weren't very impressed with me! And I won't blame them, and I always understand that they don't accept it.

"It's very selfish, but it's what I need, and it's what I want to do.

"If it doesn't happen, I'm alive, I will have plenty of opportunities in the future.

"I will have a superlicence in 2021, and we've seen that no one is safe from COVID. So let's see."

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15395 ... t-possible

[theracer120]

Hopefully he can at least get to turn some laps in practice or something as a send-off.

[Star]

Thanks @Everso Biggyballies for putting up that second piece. It's good that he won't risk long lasting damage to himself, it's simply not worth it at his age is it? As I say, I understand his desire and need to drive the car again and be as normal, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea.

Knowing how the F1 community often are for one of their own, I would hope that they would give him a chance at some point to do what he needs to one way or another.

[strad]

Certainly not a Nuvolari.

[Picci]

It sounds like the safety cell he was in didn’t get caught up in flames at the outset, which is great. He started feeling the fire and the burns as he was getting out. Now I’ve read that account, I’m really not sure if him attempting to get out was the best idea as opposed to waiting for help. Obviously instinct tells you to grt out asap.