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Haas Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean has escaped from a huge fireball crash that stopped the Bahrain Grand Prix on the first lap.
The Frenchman was involved in a coming together with a number of other cars as they battled for positions at Sakhir’s first corner.
Coming out of the opening sequence, Grosjean’s car was tipped into the barriers as he clipped the front of Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri.
Grosjean was a passenger as the Haas car speared into the barriers on the right, and it was split in two as it impacted with the barriers.
The cockpit segment went through the barriers, with the rear part of the car bouncing back towards the track.
With the car split in two, burned fuel erupted as the car came to a standstill.
With the car still in flames, Grosjean was able to get himself out of the cockpit and he was assisted by medical staff to get over the barriers and away from the fire.
The Haas team confirmed that Grosjean had been taken to the medical centre but had escaped serious injury.
A statement said: “Romain has some minor burns on his hands and ankles but otherwise he is ok. He is with the doctors just now.”
The Bahrain GP looks set for an extensive delay of at leats 45 minutes with the Grosjean crash having badly damaged the crash barriers, which will need repairing before any restart.
