At the end of the Formula 1 2020 season, Haas driver Romain Grosjean suffered a terrifying accident at the Bahrain International Circuit. His car took shelter between the sections of the Armco barrier, parted and caught fire. It was one of the most violent wrecks I’ve seen in F1 in a long time, and the FIA, F1’s governing body, finally released a full report on what happened – including what went wrong. .
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) generally handles these investigations carefully. Every time a driver is killed or seriously injured – or every time an accident is much more violent than most others I’ve seen recently – the FIA does an in-depth analysis of the cause and shares the report.
Here is what the latest report on Grosjean’s incident said:
The car suffered considerable damage during the impact, including the separation of the whole train of survival force che. The fuel tank inspection hatch on the left side of the chassis was disconnected and the engine’s fuel supply connection was broken from the fuel tank’s “safety bladder”; both providing primary routes for the evacuation of fuel from the tank.
The driver’s safety equipment, including the helmet, HANS and safety harness, as well as the Halo cab survival cell, seat, head restraint and frontal protection performed in accordance with their specifications in protecting the driver’s survival space and managing the forces applied to the driver during impact.
The battery of the High Voltage Energy Recovery System (ERS) was significantly damaged, with some parts of the ERS battery assembly remaining with the powertrain and others remaining attached to the survival cell.
The fire was ignited in the last moments of the barrier impact, starting from behind the survival cell and progressing into the forwburns to the driver as the fire increased.
So, basically, the FIA confirmed what seemed to be the case just by looking at the accident records: the car and all its safety measures seemed to be doing their job. The main problem here was that the safety tank of the fuel tank was broken on impact, which led to the fire.
That being said, there are many things the FIA will look for after Grosjean’s wreck, including:
- Changes in the fuel bladder and / or fuel type
- Steering column because he caught Grosjean’s left leg in the initial part of the accident
- Mounting the power supply unit
- Headrest position, especially in case of fire
- Fireproof glove enhancements
- Railing improvements
- Better barriers
- More effective firefighting options
So virtually any part of the accident that did not work as intended will be strongly investigated, with updates and improvements in the future.
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Racing is an inherently dangerous sport and there is always the possibility of an accident that defies expectations. But the FIA is doing a damn good job, making sure there are no repetitions of these accidents.