The FIA has outlined the process it will undertake to investigate Romain Grosjean’s crash at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Last Sunday, the Haas driver was lucky to escape with a few burns to his hands and a sprained ankle after his car burst into flames following a 53G impact with the barriers at 137mph on the opening lap.
Such was the impact that the survival cell, which includes the cockpit and fuel tank, became lodged in the barrier while the rear half of the car broke away as it is designed to.
And while the role of the Halo, overalls, helmet and other safety features have been highly praised, the FIA is keen to learn more about what took place and what more can be done to protect the driver.
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“The FIA Safety Department typically investigates around 30 serious accidents in circuit racing worldwide each year and this investigation will follow the same process,” a statement on Thursday read.
“The investigation into the Grosjean incident will look at all areas including competitor safety devices such as the helmet, HANS, safety harness, protective clothing, survival cell, headrest, in-car extinguisher system and the Halo frontal cockpit protection.
Nope you’re just ignoring th obvious! You can see the damage done to the halo in every picture of the survival cell. pic.twitter.com/FbtrF0rgjh
— Sam Torr (@samtorr1) November 30, 2020
“Analysis will also include chassis integrity and the safety barrier performance for an impact of that energy and trajectory. It will also assess the role of the track marshals and medical intervention team.
“The FIA will work with all parties involved, including the Formula 1 promoter, the Haas F1 Team and the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, which has already been contacted for input.
“Data collection will be at the heart of this investigation and in Formula 1 there is more data instrumentation than in any other championship. FIA researchers will be able to gather data from the various video streams, including a High-Speed Camera which faces the driver and films at 400 frames-per-second to reveal in slow motion what happens to him during the accident.
“Data will also be gathered from the in-car Accident Data Recorder, which will reveal the speed and forces on the car, and the in-ear accelerometers that are moulded to fit inside a driver’s ear canal to measure the movement of his head in a crash.
“The investigation is expected to take around 6-8 weeks to complete before findings are made public.”
Grosjean left the hospital in Bahrain on Wednesday and, though he will miss this weekend’s second race at Sakhir, he is targeting a return for what would be his final race in F1 next weekend in Abu Dhabi.
