The Haas Formula 1 team says Romain Grosjean’s injuries from his horrendous Bahrain Grand Prix crash are limited to hand burns.
Grosjean was taken to a nearby military hospital by helicopter after the 137mph opening lap impact in which his Haas was torn in two, with the cockpit section wedged in the middle of an armco barrier and in the middle of a fireball.
He got out of the car unaided, and climbed out of the fire and over the barriers to the medical crew.
Great work from the medical crew #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/BhxFSyf5GD
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 29, 2020
The team’s initial suspicion was that Grosjean had suffered burns to both his hands and legs, and possibly also broken ribs.
But it now says he “will remain in hospital overnight to be treated for burns sustained on the back of both hands” and that “all X-rays performed on Grosjean came back clear of fractures”.
Grosjean also put out his own video message from the hospital on social media on Sunday night.
An update from Romain himself. Pleased to see you’re in good spirits! We hope you make a speedy recovery 🙏 pic.twitter.com/njnjjH4GBi
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) November 29, 2020
“Just wanted to say I’m OK, well, sort of OK,” he said. “Thank you for all of the messages.
“I wasn’t for the halo some years ago but I think it’s the greatest thing we’ve brought to Formula 1 and without it I wouldn’t be able to speak to you today.
“Thanks to all the medical staff at the circuit, at the hospital.”
Team principal Guenther Steiner had earlier revealed that the situation might be better than first feared in a television interview.
“I just spoke with him. I talked to him on the phone. He’s in a clear state of mind,” Steiner told Sky Sports F1.
“He’s good. He’s still staying in the hospital overnight, they want to keep him there, but he told me that he feels good.
“It seems that nothing is broken. Yes, he’s got his hands bandaged from the burns, but otherwise he said he has no burns.
“So he was very upbeat I would say. So we are very, very happy.”
Both Grosjean and team-mate Kevin Magnussen are being released by Haas at the end of this season, which is likely to mark the end of their respective F1 careers.
The Bahrain GP was the first leg of the season-concluding triple-header, to be followed by a second Sakhir race on its Outer circuit and then the Abu Dhabi GP over the next two weekends.
Steiner said it was much too early to consider whether Grosjean would be fit for either race or a stand-in driver might be required.
He suspected – “knowing him” – that Grosjean would attempt a quick return.
“He wants to be back, but we’ll see that tomorrow when they take the bandage off because he has no idea what they [the burns] look like,” Steiner added.
“For me at the moment the good thing is nothing bad happened.
“For sure, it wasn’t good, but he’s safe and the rest we speak about tomorrow when we speak with the doctors.”
Haas’s official reserve drivers this season are F2 race winner Louis Deletraz and sometime IndyCar and DTM racer Pietro Fittipaldi.
It is expected to announce Formula 2 racers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin as its 2021 line-up later this year, and it was due to run Ferrari protege Callum Ilott in Nurburgring Friday practice before fog precluded any track action.
Steiner underlined that at present, all thoughts were focused on Grosjean being back in the car next weekend.
“I don’t want to speak about the back-up plan,” he said.
“My back-up plan is to have Romain in, if he feels well to do it. That is my plan.”
