Romain Grosjean has called for a brain study to understand how he remained conscious during his terrifying crash in Bahrain.
The former Haas driver was lucky to escape with just burns to his hands after his car broke in half and burst into flames moments after smashing into the barrier at relatively high speed.
Now, one month on, Grosjean only has a light bandage on his left hand, which was more severely injured in the crash, and instead, the Frenchman is focused on working with the FIA to see how safety can be further improved.
“I think there are many things we learn from an incident and in my case, we are lucky that I am alive, I can talk and remember everything,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“I’m not sure if it’s a good thing for me, but I do remember everything and I believe some grey areas for safety in motorsport have already been understood and I see more (being understood).
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“The next big step to me is to understand what is happening under the helmet, to the brain.
“Physically, we saw I came out of the car intact, yes (I have) a little burn on my hands and we can improve safety with the gloves, but also what is happening in the brain of the driver.
“In a 60G (impact) you should lose consciousness, even for a few seconds, but you shouldn’t be aware, as I was.
“That saved my life, but I would like to understand, with sensors on the brain where there has been an incident, what can we do better on the helmet and the headrest and safety and everything that the driver, even with a big impact, stays conscious for whatever work he has to do.”
Immediately after his crash, Grosjean hailed the introduction of the Halo, which was created in the wake of Jules Bianchi’s accident in Japan in 2014, which ultimately took his life in the following July.
And he hopes a similar investigation into his near-death experience in Bahrain can be his biggest mark left on motorsport.
“I don’t feel like a hero,” Grosjean is quoted by Motorsport-Total.com.
“People say about racing drivers: what you do is usually exceptional, but no, no. Doctors save lives, they’re extraordinary. Firefighters are extraordinary.
“I was just doing my job, too. As a race car driver and also as a father, to make sure my three kids have their dad in the best possible shape in their lives.
“It was a survival instinct. I never panicked, I was never stressed. Everything was math, and even when I took off my gloves because I knew my hands were burned, every step was rational.
“I don’t know if you’re born with that kind of instinct or if that’s something you can improve in your life, but it saved me.
“If I can save a life in the future through my experience, as Jules did for me, then I will have a strong legacy in motorsport, that would probably be my greatest pride.”
