FORMULA ONE bosses have started their investigation into the horrifying crash that almost killed Romain Grosjean.
The Swiss-born star escaped a fiery smash in Bahrain with just burns to his hands thanks to F1’s safety measures and the quick work of the medical team and marshals.
However, the sport’s governing body will now forensically analyse Grosjean‘s Haas and study the data on his car to identify what caused the crash and how it can be prevented in future.
FIA chiefs will also double-check the safety of the Bahrain track which will host its second race this weekend, albeit on a new layout – a quicker oval track.
Race Director Michael Masi said: “The guys at the Bahrain International Circuit did an amazing job. Credit where credit’s due…
“From all facets of that incident response be it marshals, fire marshals, our amazing medical team Alan van der Merwe and Dr Ian Roberts, the management from a race control perspective…
“It’s not just one little piece, it’s everyone working together. So it’s a credit to everyone involved.
“With every incident, but more so with every major incident, the FIA safety department leads the investigation.
“The single seater department, of which F1 is a part from a technical perspective, has an involvement.
“The F1 teams and the technical directors will be involved. The circuits commission will be involved [on] circuit safety.
“All of the various parts of the FIA group as a whole and all the respective subject matter experts really will review this particular area and see what can be learnt, what can be improved.
“It’s a credit to the safety systems that we have as a whole and our entire safety package and the way the FIA has been working through it all over many, many years, that Romain came out relatively — all things considered — unscathed.”
F1’s managing director, Ross Brawn said that he was shocked to see the car burst into flames and wants to uncover just how Grosjean’s Haas split in two.
He added: “Seeing Romain jump out of the car was a massive relief.
“The FIA, working with the team, have to understand the dynamics of what happened in the accident to see if improvements are possible.
“It was a pretty severe impact and there are limits as to what you’d be able to contain or control.
“But penetrating the barrier like that has to be understood.
“It also has to be understood why there was a fire and why the car broke in two.
“These are the things that the FIA will now take the time to analyse and work out what can be done better.”
Meanwhile, Grosjean will NOT return to the track at this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix after Haas called-up Brazilian youngster Pietro Fittipaldi.
Elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel slammed Bahrain’s guardrails after Grosjean’s death-defying crash.
