Ham was quick to compliment the sports modern safety standards for saving Grosjean, whose Haas car broke in two on impact before erupting in flames.
Lewis Hamilton with the winner's trophy in Bahrain on Sunday. Pic/AFP
A victorious Lewis Hamilton kept his composure and then praised Formula One's safety systems on Sunday after Romain Grosjean escaped from a frightening fireball after a crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The newly-crowned seven-time champion cruised to his 11th win this year in his Mercedes with a masterful drive in challenging and chaotic circumstances. But after securing a record-increasing 95th career victory ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen during a late safety car intervention, he was quick to compliment the sport's modern safety standards for saving the Frenchman whose Haas car broke in two on impact before erupting in flames.
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"It was such a shocking image to see," said Hamilton, who like all of the drivers had a near 90-minute wait for the restart after the horrific opening lap crash. He used the pause to tweet on safety. "When I get in the car, I know I am taking risks. I respect the dangers that are in this sport. I posted about it during the break because it is horrifying. "The car, the cockpit. I don't know what Gs he pulled, but I'm just so grateful the halo worked.
"It could have been so much worse, but I think it is a reminder to us and hopefully to the people that are watching that this is a dangerous sport. We are out there pushing to the limit and playing with that limit, but you always have to respect it. "It shows what an amazing job Formula One and the FIA have done for him to be able to walk away from something like that, but it will be investigated -- and they will do an awful lot of work to make sure something like that does not happen again." Grosjean lost control of his Haas after clipping the front left wheel of Daniil Kvyat's Alpha Tauri, having skewed right in the intense battle positions at Turn Three on the opening lap. Grosjean's car rammed into the barriers as he braked hard from around 250 km/h (155 mph), the front part hammering into the steel guardrails which buckled immediately. Grosjean, 34, trapped in his cockpit, flew under the steel barrier as it gave way and as his car burst into flames. Observers suggested his car's safety halo had saved his life as he careered through the ruptured barrier, the device lifting them above his head, before F1's chief medical officer Dr Ian Roberts and his medical car driver Alan van der Merwe joined track marshals with fire extinguishers and helped him escape.
'It was scary'
Grosjean extricated himself from his blazing wreck and climbed through flames to leap a barrier to safety with Roberts' help. "It was scary," Verstappen said. "We saw a red flag, which doesn't mean it's immediately a bad thing. I saw a lot of fire and I thought that is not a good thing, but luckily he is ok." Frenchman Grosjean was taken to hospital with suspected fractured ribs and burns to his hands and feet after his crash which was followed by another accident that saw Racing Point driver Lance Stroll rescued from his overturn car. Hamilton came home at controlled pace behind the safety car at the finish, followed by Verstappen and his Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon, who profited after an engine failure forced Racing Point's Sergio Perez to retire with three laps left.
Lando Norris came home fourth ahead of his McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz with Pierre Gasly taking sixth for Alpha Tauri and Renault's Daniel Ricciardo seventh. Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished eighth, having suffered a puncture, ahead of Esteban Ocon in the second Renault and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Hamilton's win lifted him 131 points clear of Bottas in the championship, which he has won already. Gasly said he had texted compatriot Grosjean after the race. "It was horrible, when I saw the images I was shocked. It was really scary, but I had no idea an F1 car could break that way. The halo really proved to be working. I have texted him to wish him a good recovery. I think he is fine, but (it was) a really scary thing."
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