I don't think this should be blocked, this only shows how good modern fire suits can be. This was an upgrade that occurred in that same season and if he had been in the previous season's fire suit may not have survived. The cockpit halo also saved his life, that's the bar that goes in front of the driver's face, had that not been there the fence would have probably decapitated him. There is an interview with Grosjean where he explains his side of the story, in short, an absolute miracle. He was in the fireball for 27 seconds for him to get out, which is a long time to be in a fireball in any situation. All he came out with was a burnt left hand which required some skin grafts and a foot from memory. Grosjean interview with Sky News: ua-cam.com/video/QDT-tMtdfSo/v-deo.html
It was amazing that he was able to survive what looked like it would be a fatal crash. It is also amazing that even after this horrible crash that he still decided to continue racing. He now races in Indycar. There is a video that explains quite a lot about the crash. Here is a link to it ua-cam.com/video/LcxdZKM1JEU/v-deo.html&ab_channel=F1SPORTS
Same. I was sick to my stomach watching this live. I can still remember yelling out loud "get him out, get him out" so loud I freaked out my kids in the next room. I still get emotional watching replays more than a year later.
@@brada562 Same, though I had it recorded because I couldn't watch it live so I avoided pretty much all social media for the 6 or 8 hours after the race until I could watch it. Had no idea what had happened until I was watching the recorded race. I for sure thought I'd just watched a driver die and the relief when I saw his head pop up on the other side of the barrier was incredible. Up to that point since it's introduction I'd hated the halo. Yeah it was a safety thing but it was hideous and made the cars look just not like an F1 car should. After this crash I did a complete 180. If not for the halo, Grosjean would have died that day.
You need to watch the accident in real time without the theatric pausing. It is still frightening and shows the benefit of having the medical car follow the pack around for the full first lap. THAT and the Halo are what helped save his life as they were able to attend so quickly.
Totally agree. If you're watching the DTS replay of this, it's so prolonged and dragged out as if he was sitting in fire for 15 minutes. I'm not saying it wasn't a horrible crash, but in real time it was over in less than a minute or probably less than 30 seconds. I'd have to watch the original footage again. But it definitely didn't take as long as they portray it.
I agree, Netflix are a joke for dramatising this. Watching it live we didn’t know the outcome for quite a while, as for obvious reasons, they didn’t show what was happening until they confirmed 💯 he was ok. It was a horrible wait, fearing the worst. 28seconds to get out in real time is still a miracle and shows how good the technology of the car and suit are.
The real-life time from impact to him getting out of the car was 28 seconds. Obviously the halo saved him, or he would have been decapitated going through the armco barrier, similar to both Helmuth Koinigg and Francois Cevert at Watkins Glen in the '70s. Then the updated fire suits and helmets saved him from the fire. One of Niki Lauda's major injuries from his fiery crash at Nurburgring was his lungs getting scorched by burning, toxic fumes. Investigations of Grosjean's helmet note that there wasn't ANY fire or smoke damage inside his helmet.
Indeed 28 seconds. As this was not even long enough of heartbreak drama. Noooo, Netflix needs to add a lot to it on top and slow motions etc etc as it took minutes to spice up the drama even more. It makes me sick to the stomach haw that is played at Netflix. Shame on them. Any idea how that looks and feels to people close to him if they seen this? Shame on Netflix
@@Lucas_Pit I feel like it does the total opposite, 28 seconds to him probably felt like hours. This gave the same emotions his family felt. Stop being salty at a piece of art.
Hi. F1 fan here. I watched the race live and my first reaction to the crash was "is that fire?" Then seeing the car split in half I was speechless. It's a miracle Romain Grosjean survived. DTS stretched the drama but it was a shocking 28 seconds. It was a relief seeing Romain get out of the car. The halo which was thumbed down when it was introduced saved his life. I have so much respect for the halo now. I also recommend Jolyon Palmer's analysis of the crash.
@marconucci2713 no, he wasn't. It was 28 seconds. If it had been 2 min 45 seconds he would have died. All of the fire protecting clothing he was wearing can only withstand fire like that for 12 or so seconds. They do wear several layers of flame resistant clothing on their bodies, but its still measured in seconds. That's why f1 drivers have to be able to get out of their cars in under 10 seconds.
I cried bro, that amount of fire is a horrible death, when I saw him leaving I couldn't believe it, for a split second I thought it was a firefighter who tried to help the pilot.
I saw it live and thought for sure we saw a fatal crash. I can’t even describe the relief seeing him jump out of the flames. Absolutely incredible moment I’ll never forget.
They did not give the viewers information for like 15 mins as i remember so i just saw the fireball and then silence. That was the most tense i have felt during a GP.
There is a reason he is known as the Phoenix now in Indycar. He wanted to walk to the ambulance to prove to his wife and kids that he was safe and not hurt, only suffered a twisted ankle and burnt hands, came back racing couple weeks later. It’s incredible that he survived that
Remember my heart sinking when I saw that live. Simply amazing he could come out of that. You like the IndyCar, right? Grosjean drives for Andretti racing in the series. Cheers.
And in todays cars the crash would be even less injuring. This crash caused the cars to be able to split without tearing open the fuel cell, which is what happened to his car
The safety cell, the hans system, and particularly the halo saved his body... A small fast prayer from millions around the world, at his address, at the same time kept him alive is my guess... This was truly a miracle. I wonder what would have happened to the sport if he did not survive sometimes...
You should watch the interview that Grosjean gave afterwards talking about his experience sitting in the flames thinking about relaxing and giving up his life to the flames until he thought about his wife and children. Extremely moving. 🔥🔥💯💯❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🍻🍻🇺🇸🇺🇸
I was literally about to write this exact comment 😂 It was amazing how he went through what felt like 3 minutes in like 20 seconds and the breakdown of it all is rlly moving
When he said, he said he accepted his death, but said he couldn’t go out just waiting to die. He said he had to give it another shot, for his family. Killed me
Yup. He wast stuck and did not succeed to extract himself. And thought he will die. But he thought about his family and that gave him the boost of strength he needed. By the way, it's a "miracle", but the "halo" system and the protective suit he wore are the scientific explanation of that miracle.
It wasn’t shown live in real time. All coverage of the incident stopped when they saw the fireball. They just showed people in the pits reacting. They only shared the escape footage when he already in the ambulance.
He actually stays exactly 28 seconds in the fire. He posted a video on youtube in french on the accident, according to him at first their was a piece of a car that was blocking him from getting off the car, he couldn't push it at first and for a moment he thought he was done and almost accept his death, but at the last moment he thought about his wife and childs and this give him enough motivation to try one more time and he miraculously manage to push the piece that was obstructing him and get off. In the end he only got a burn on the hand no other major damage. Big shout out also to the guy that help him get off and catch him when he jumps over the barrier, that guy is a hero, he got burn in the face helping Grosjean, didn't hesitate to put himself in danger to help Grosjean get off the car.
His foot was stuck at first, and the halo, which had just saved him from decapitation, was blocking him from getting out. He smashed his helmet repeatedly against the headrest to break it, so he could get around the halo. The guy helping is the race doctor, who really went above and beyond, it was not his job, but the fire marshalls were nowhere, so he had only 1 thought, to save Grosjean.
I was watching when Senna and Ratzenberger lost their lives, and was also watching when Grosjean crashed. I immediately thought the worse. Not only was it an absolute miracle that he survived, but a testament to the all the safety initiative that the sport has embraced. So thankful that engineers have worked so tirelessly to keep the drivers safe.
I watched those live too... as well as Berger's fiery crash live... I thought this was the big.one for Romain, literally shook when he walked out of it.
Don't forget Michael Schumachers crash where he broke both his legs. The reason his ski accident and subsequent non recovery hit so hard for many people was because he survived some F1 crashes still having severe damage, to then return to racing soon after, still utterly owning the field.
the first driver who asked his engineer over the radio in this video is Charles Leclerc, who lost his godfather, Jules Bianchi, and his dear friend, F2 driver Anthoine Hubert, in a serious accident during the race. I think that might be why his reaction is so emotional at that moment. To race in F1 or any motorsports, These guys' mental health must be on another level.
@@simonnewby1215 the halo project was started in part due to henry surtees death. f1 revisited the question of head protection after jules death. but is widely regarded that outcome of jules crash with the halo would be boradly similar. the reaction to jules death was vsc
i recommend watching Grosjean's interview afterward, it's... really heavy because he was conscious of what was happening to him, and so he can tell what was going through his head, like asking himself, when he noticed his leg was stuck in the cockpit "oh, ok I can't get out... I'm stuck, like Nikki Lauda... is it gonna hurt ? How long is it gonna take ?" , it's... pretty haunting.
Honestly a miracle he survived the way he did. Anyone who saw that live or who saw and didn’t know the outcome absolutely thought there’s no way you can survive that. I know Roman also thought he wasn’t getting out. Insane
I remember watching this live and I was totally in shock. It felt like hours waiting for any sign of him getting out alive. Crazy how your perception of time changes when something like this happens.
What is amazing is listening to Grosjean after the accident. In the fireball, Grosjean thought about Niki Lauda who was badly burned in an F1 crash, he kind of gave up - then thoughts of his family drove him to do whatever he could to get out of the car, rescue himself and survive! It was amazing to see him in Toronto last month racing IndyCars!
I think this is the greatest crash in F1 history. Doing a Lauda, and then walking away. It has everything and the ending turned out positive. Yup. Greatest crash in F1 history.
I am actually shocked he drives IndyCar after that. I mean F1 has the highest standards when it comes to safety, plus the speed in Indy is much higher. You know how much I waited for the day Michael Schumacher would finally finish his career. I was so afraid something might happen. Just wanted him to leave as a living 7times champion. And then that accident ski accident happend ... such a bitter irony.
Dude, don’t apologize for feeling emotion. I watched this live. I was in tears and still get choked up watching this, Dan Weldon’s crash, and Earnhardts. Thankfully this crash had a good outcome. Love your content.
Even watching it like 5 times after, I am still shocked. And then it spooks me even more that you could see Grosjean move ALL THROUGHOUT that crash footage!!! Like seriously, you can even see his headrest and helmet move around even at 0:55
@@inno-v8-ion165 I get chills every time I watch it. I thought I was watching someone burn to death on live tv. I’ll never forget it. The relief when he got out was insane
In case you didn't know, Romain Grosjean is now racing in IndyCar. That crash happened on 29 November 2020, in what proved to be his final Formula 1 race. He had burnt his hands quite badly, but just five months later he started his IndyCar career at the Grand Prix of Alabama. I watched that live, and I honestly thought that was the end for Grosjean. It was horrific. I also watched the Formula 2 crash in Belgium in 2019 that unfortunately claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert. Grosjean's incident looked just as bad on TV.
It was already his last F1 race, he was leaving F1 for IndyCar after this last race of the season. And the fire didnt make this look worse, it was every bit as bad, as it looked. It was later calculated, that he hit 67Gs going through that barrier, that no car was supposed to get through. Then his foot was stuck, and he thought, he was going to die, until he thought of his wife and children and started fighting to get free. Then he couldnt get out of the car due to the halo, which had just saved him from being decapitated going through the barrier, and he had to smash his helmet repeatedly against the headrest to break the headrest to be able to climb out around the halo. Meanwhile the fire marshalls were nowhere to be seen, it was the race doctor and his driver there at front helping, the doctor seeing Grosjean move in the fire and directing his driver where to focus his exstiguisher, and after several attempts to get close (the doctor was only wearing basic fire protection equipment and no facial protection at all, he got a couple of superficial burns in the proces) he managed to get close enough to help Grosjean climb the barrier out of the fire. As Grosjeans team manager said, he knew, when he saw the fireball, they have 15-20 seconds to get out, if theyre not out after 20 seconds, theyre not coming out. Grosjean came out after 28 seconds. He survived an unsurvivably accident with reletively minor injuries and made a full recovery. Thats why his fellow drivers nicknamed him Phoenix.
100% agree with you. I ve seen this race live. Nobody expected him to Service even without the fire. Nothing less than a miracle. You should see the car after fire was out. And he wanted to race again after a few weeks.
6:40 it is not a miracle=) It is technologies... 100+ years of safety development any many tragically lost drivers gave us so high safety standards.. HALO was introduced just year before that crash and without it Roman could be decapitated like many others before him...
I watched this live, and while Drive to Survive extends the drama quite a bit, those 28 seconds between the crash and Grosjean getting out felt like a lifetime. If this had happened a couple of years earlier he would have died, the HALO device that was introduced after Jules Bianchi's death in 2015 saved him. So what happened was the force of the crash split the barrier allowing the front end to pass through, but then the car hit one of the support struts on the side which caused it to split, rupturing the fuel tank and causing the fireball. The front bit of the car was wedged sideways, which is why Grosjean had to wiggle himself up and out, getting burned in his wrists and ankles as a result.
@@lucasgamezz140what doesn't get conveyed here is the car was designed to split in the event of this kind of crash. Just the fuel tank wasn't designed well enough for it. The energy removed from the driver by releasing the engine and the back half of the car is part of the driver safety pod system. Anything that will compromise the safety pod is designed to shear away to allow the pod to keep its integrity.
Don't apologise mate. Nothing wrong with showing emotion. I just watched this, I knew survived cos I remembered the incident, but its still very emotional seeing him escape.
The car is designed to split in two, it takes the weight of the engine and gearbox away from the driver in a big impact. But in this case the Armco barrier ripped the fuel cell. He was in the car for 29 seconds after the impact, Netflix did extend the drama for TV. The medical car with a doctor on board was the first to arrive to help, an unbelievable incident, amazing he survived.
Not entirely correct, they're not designed to split in the middle like that, hence the fire. Mick Schumacher's crash at Monaco ua-cam.com/video/k49uz7HraD4/v-deo.html shows how the rear assembly is designed to break away.
@@guzslat75 They can break between engine and gearbox (Schumacher) or between engine and monocoque. The latter happens very rarely, but it's been known to happen, and usually there is no fire involved. I guess in this case the problem was that it didn't break on impact, but was rather ripped apart when the front of the car got stuck while the rest of it still carried loads of momentum.
just 29s? So it was just drama. That explains how he survived. The suit and helmet is designed to resist fire for a while. More impressive was surving the impact.
@@HeavenlyWarrior More that he found the strength to get out himself having just survived the impact, while the main opening of the HALO was blocked by the armco. The most shocking part for me as an F1 fan was the fact that he went through the armco like that, knowing that without the HALO device that was just introduced in 2018, this would've 100% been a fatality, and probably the ugliest scene ever to be captured by F1 TV cameras.
NOW the car is designed to split. This crash literally caused a reg change since in this crash the fuel cell got ripped open. It won't happen now anymore
I’m with you totally with you on fatal crashes. Witnessing Senna, Wheldon & Bianchi will never leave me. As for this crash, I saw it live and I think I held my breath from the time the fireball started to the time he climbed out. It was probably between 30-60 seconds, but felt like minutes. My reaction was no different to yours, but in a sick kind of way it’s thrilling too. I’m in my 50’s and I don’t recall ever getting an adrenaline kick like that from watching sport on TV. I was all over the place for a good half an hour afterwards
The car went through the rail which ripped the car in two parts thus igniting the fuel (fuel tank is behind the driver) but the halo system made him survive going through the rail... in the video, the montage is made to make it more dramatic, but in real life it happened in ~27 seconds. We have to thank the medical and security crew for their quick response because the netflix montage does not really honor them. Romain could stay alive also thanks to the suit but man.. he is really, really really lucky to get out of this alive and it really shows how insanely safe F1 cars have become since the halo system was introduced back in 2018
@@iZeb0x Watching live we had no idea how long it was we only got to see images when we knew he was ok and checked... The waiting is the bad part over the years you get a gut feeling but until they know they will limit what is shown... I can't remember 100% but i think it took 5m or more before we knew... when it happened i told my fam who where watching with me... wow that was way too much fire but i guess the good thing is most of the fuel will be done quickly then we had to wait... no other video was shown until after the ok.
I still remember watching this live on TV. The fact he was up and about in no time at all (relatively) is just testament to the safety measures in modern F1.
I was watching this race live on Sky-F1 channel here in UK - I thought for sure he was done for. Though he was in the burning wreck for 28 seconds, it felt MUCH longer while watching live - Drive to Survive stretched it out much further for dramatic effect.... I could barely believe it when I saw him in the medical car looking almost unscathed apart from the obvious look on his face. The fact his physical injuries only consisted of burns to his hands and ankles is a testament to modern safety features such as the Halo device, and the effectiveness of modern fireproof clothing.
FIA has the cockpit on display at some museum somewhere. I heard. It’s fried. I think they did a full exam on the car to see what worked and what needs work for improved safety. What made it all the more frustrating was Romain had a foot wedged and had to rip a shoe off to get free. Also when he came to he said he had no idea what’s up or what’s down and got his head partially in the guardrail hole. So he had to go back into the fire and then find the real way out. All in 28 seconds. He had a full fuel load because this wreck happened early.
It's currently on display in London at the Excel F1 Exhibition, i was there a couple of days ago. The crash video is on the screen with the chassis next to you, very thought provoking.
Yeah, this was the first lap of the race, thats why the medical car was there within a couple of seconds, they follow after them for the first lap and first lap only. Otherwise it wouldve taken a lot longer to get help. It was the halo, which saved him from decapitation going through a barrier, that no car was supposed to be able to go through, but it also blocked him from getting out. After freeing his foot he smashed his helmet against the headrest several times to break the headrest to be able to climb out around the halo. And its insane, that he was even conscious to do all that. It was later calculated, that he hit 67Gs going through that barrier. He really earned his new nickname. Phoenix. Edit: I absolute abhor the Netflix version, drawing it out for several minutes for "suspence". The raw 28 seconds are quite enough, in fact its far more powerful than their crap.
Watching this live was something else. I honestly think i didn't take a breath until he emerged from those flames. Insane! And incredible! We must all be thankful for the incredible improvements to safety that even a crash like this lead to no critical permanent injuries. Absolutely amazing!
This. I'm old enough to have seen the tape delay of Lorenzo Bandini being incinerated at Monaco in 1967. I'm astounded at the advances of modern technology.
I watched this crash live on tv. I also thought this was the end for Grosjean. In the end it was the safety rules that saved him. The halo protected his head as he went through the barrier and it was the protective clothing protectected him from the fire long enough to make his way out of the car.
You right there the mad thing is they literally updated the race suits that year to last longer in a fire, hence why he only got burns to his hands as the hands and shoes wasn't updated along with the overalls
@@southerninterloper4107 they did but they didn't save his life. Without the protective measures they wouldn't have had to get out of their car to help him. He'd be dead.
Saw this happen in real time as I was watching the race. It was easily the scariest moment in the almost 30 years I've been watching F1, certainly since Imola 94. We witnessed a miracle for sure.
*28 seconds* Grosjean was in the fireball, they have since reported. Netflix really extends the sensation of it for drama. You could critisize that, but maybe there is a safety message that comes across doing it that way. As we see, Grosjean clipped Kvyat trying to advance and hit an Armco-type triple-barrier near head-on, suffering peak 50 to 60 Gs. The car split in half, the otherwise self-sealing gas tank erupted and triggered that fireball. The front half of the car went through the barrier while the, until then much harangued, Halo protected Grosjean's head from serious immmediate injury, but the front half then came to a rest on its side with Grosjean's head partly jammed towards the broken barrier, making it difficult for him to escape. The cockpit crumbled slightly from the impact, jamming one of his fire-retardant racing boots, so Grosjean, being fully conscious, initially hesitated to try and get out inside the fireball, all while the flames started to be doused by the quick arrival of marshals and the official medical car. Then Grosjean moved to fight his way out of the fire, in which he had to pull his foot out of the jammed shoe, and then managed to climb out of the cockpit and over the broken barrier, while the marshals kept the fireball partially at bay. Grosjean came away with a partially melted helmet visor and, more seriously, second-degree burns to both his hands and the foot that lost the racing shoe. He later required skin grafts to his left hand, which is visible as red scarring to this day (there is a picture ATM on his Wiki page), but he otherwise made a full recovery. You can find a YT nine-screen comparison of the crash in real-time if searching "Romain Grosjean's Terrifying Crash (Multiple Angles) | F1 Bahrain2020". Those 28 seconds still feels like an eternity. YT won't let me add the direct link, but it's out there for hopefully educational posterity.
The car split in two partly bc its designed to under heavy impact, and bc the titanium roll-hoop couldnt pierce through the barrier like the nose cone and monocoque did. What shouldnt have happened is it catching fire as the fuel system is designed not to ignite when the car splits. For good measure, the metal barrier partly trapped Grosjean in the car and he had to wiggle round the halo and the barrier debris - One of his race boots got stuck in the car as well bc of how tight it was to get out.
There’s a couple of very insightful videos of how the accident played out which are very worth watching. The main takeaway from it all though, is that the halo well and truely saved Grosjeans life. Without a shadow of a doubt. Along with how insanely tough the safety cell/monocoque is these days.
Agreed. I have seen a video on UA-cam explaining the accident which includes an interview with Grojean where he tells the story of how he got out. A very lucky man!
The halo was one of the most valuable inventions in formula racing of the last decades. In a relatively short time it saved A LOT of lives. Grosjean, Zhou, Hamilton, Leclerc, you name it. They all had horrible crashes which could have been fatal without halo.
I absolutly hated the Halo when it was introduced but oh boy was i wrong! It already saved multiple lives so far, best safety feature tehy introduced for some time and nowadays everyone is used to how it looks and its really not as bad as we made it out when it was new.
I was on the fence when the halo was introduced, but quickly enough saw how useful it was. Without the halo, Grosjean would've been decapitated by the barrier
Halo saved like 10 people from massive injuries and at least 3-4 lives in F1 in the last couple of years, some of them fighting for the title right now like Leclerc and Hamilton would have likely suffered a big injury in Monza last year. I think everyone is happy we have this thing now :D
He was inside that fireball for 28 to 29 seconds which must have seemed like an eternity. My biggest fear was that he would suffer fatal lung damage from breathing in those super heated gases. He was wearing a new make firesuit for 2020 that had increased fire resistance but the standard fire proof gloves and boots. Ironically, some drivers had complained the new fire suits were too hot. His hands and his feet did have serious burns for which he did get some skin grafting. The Hans device protected him from getting a basilar skull fracture from the sudden deceleration, and finally, the halo absolutely saved him from suffering the same fate as Helmut Koinigg who was decapitated at Watkins Glen in 1974 when his F1 car also went headfirst through the armco. A lot of things had to go right for him to survive that horrific accident.
As I watched the crash live on TV I was completely shocked by what I saw. At first I was sure that he wasn‘t comming out but thanks to the halo, the roll hoop and the fact that the split in two (Formula 1 cars are designed to break like that so the occurring energy is cought in the part that breakes away which dramaticly decreases the load on the driver) grosjean could climb out of the car and survive with almost no injurys.
Definitely a miracle! For as much theatrics as drive to survive is, it really captured what we all felt. I watched this live and we all felt our heart I'm our throats. As long as he was in the fire, we all thought it was fatal. I've been to us grand prix in Austin, Canadian grand prix and mexican grand prix. I've seen several accidents live but this was big. Almost as big and shitty a feeling as Jules Bianchi and Anthony Hubert crashes.
Honestly, I abhor Drive to Survive, and not just on this. The raw footage is far more powerful than their ridiculous theatrics drawing it out for minutes.
All these years on, and I still get choked up watching him climb out of the car. Big props for the people who made the safety gear that he was wearing. I wouldn't have thought it possible to survive in a fire for that long.
They didnt think, it was possible. As his own team manager said, he knew, when he saw the fireball, that Grosjean had 15-20 seconds to get out. If hes not out in 20 seconds, hes not coming out. And how it was rushing through his mind what to say to Grosjeans wife and the media. And then after 28 impossible seconds Grosjean climbed out, and Steiner, the manager, rushed to call Grosjeans wife. Part of the reason, he was able to survive far longer, than the suits are made for, was, that this happened on the first lap, so the medical car was right behind him. The doctor was there in like 2 seconds, he saw Grosjean moving the fire and directed his driver to aim his extinguisher at Grosjean to help him get an escape route. But Grosjean still had to survive and stay conscious through, what was later calculated to be 67Gs! And then get his foot unstuck and smash the headrest with his helmet, hammering his head back repeatedly, to be able to climb out around the halo. Where the doctor without the proper gear still managed to get close enough to assist him over the barrier. And no, Grosjean isnt blaming the halo. He was very much against it, when it was introduced, but hes the first to say now, that it saved his life, coz it saved him from being decapitated going through the barrier. He is now the halos biggest fan. And he certainly earned his new nickname. Phoenix.
Hi, yeah saw this live. My thoughts went a bad place rather quickly. I saw both R.Ratzenberger and Senna die on live television and J.Bianci's crash at Suzuka, so it was a huge relief to see him crawl out of his wreck. Romain Grosjean has recovered and is now in Indy car.
Same, we seriously thought he'd had it, and yeah I also saw those other incidents live, tragic. I never did understand why Bianchi was going so fast under double waved yellows, but then the weather was bad
Man, thanks for showing such raw emotions whilst watching this as much as those of us who watched it live - this brought a tear to my eyes. As hard as they race, they're all part of the family that is F1 (us fans included) and thanks so much for helping to show the good and bad side of the sports that we love. This Drive to Survive episode was critical to show just how dangerous this sport is, how amazing the tech (halo/etc) is, and your commentary is appreciated. Much love from an Aussie x
I watched this live and even though I know the outcome it still brings tears to my eyes watching it. I sat on the edge of my seat just hoping that he was ok. We didn't know if he would survive and the parts you see weren't shown until we knew he was ok. Drive to Survive have stretched the time out, he was actually in the flames for 28 seconds. The Halo and all the protective clothing saved his life that day. Sadly it was after the death of Jules Bianchi that the Halo was created. It was the nose of the car just hitting the barrier at the wrong angle causing the horizontal bars to part, allowing the front half through and breaking the back half off, thereby causing the escape of fuel and the fire.
The car is actually designed to split in two is actually a safety mechanism. It's ment to disperse the energy in a High G, crash to keep the driver safe. It's scary to see. But it's meant to happen in these kinds of scenarios.
This race was the second F1 race I ever saw in full and it was ultimately the race that turned me into a fan while also showing me just how much drivers are putting on the line for the sport. When I saw the crash, I genuinely thought he died but was so happy to see him mantle that barrier. No matter who the driver is or what they do, I will have nothing but the utmost respect for the drivers that make this sport possible.
I had watched like a few minutes of some races before but never really cared and that race actually got me into F1 because of the same reasons you said. Never missed a race since then.
I watched it live back then, I was into the championship, never missing any race. That moment really lasted so much, and the longer it took, the more I thought "this is it, he cannot come out". I thought I was watching a live tragedy, like it happened with Senna and others. After what it seemed like an eternity, holding my breath, I finally saw a silouette moving in the flames and I couldn't believe my eyes. He was alive and I was so relieved. No tragedy this time, thank God ! But you know, those halos also had a role in keeping Grosjean alive. Think about that car split in two if it had no halo..... That thing reinforces the driver cockpit also, not just keep them from being hit by a loose wheel in the air or stuff like that.
The medic who grabbed him from the barrier had his suit scorched from the heat, just look at Grosjean's helmet as he steps out. Insane tech keeping these drivers alive.
@johnriddle6109 F1 cars have a honeycomb crumple zone in the nose to protect the driver's feet. The Halo force the wall over his head. The Hans device kept his body still through the wreck. And incredible fireproof suits kept him alive long enough to escape. Incredible engineering
this was truly extraordinary. if he was knocked unconscious or part of him was stuck, he would've sat there surrounded by fire breathing in piping hot air with barely any oxygen in it for more than 2 minutes. he could've died from suffocation or severe heat damage to the lung. and of course, a 67G impact could've just killed him on impact. fortunately none of those happened. he jumped out of the wreckage and got away with some burns to the back of his hand and a sprung ankle.
If you're gonna watch Drive to survive, then keep in mind that it is partly fiction! They made stories and rivalries that are non existent to make it more juicy. As an F1 fan, I really disliked last season because there is so much BS in there and it frames some drivers negatively and this is just wrong.
DTS is what is currently creating the toxic atmosphere and rivalries. many new F1 'fans' who are only into the sport because of that shit program, with no idea of the nuances of the sport and are just utter scumbags in how they talk about other drivers.
@@soopafamicom well tbh F1 has a lot of toxicity, mainly between merc and RB and mainly verstappen fans who somehow feel the need to smoke out the track every time a race is anywhere within 3000km of the dutch border..
@@LunnarisLP How is the smoke part of the toxicity?? I always thought it was pretty cool. The Lewis and Verstappen fanbases are definitely the most toxic in the sport but neither are worse than the other imo.
Imagine watching this on TV Live and knowing that FIA doesn't show replays until they are certified that the pilot is fine. It took almost 10 minutes to show the replay and his first image out of the car.
Sure enough this is a spectacular sight to see him getting out of that crash under his own two feet despite everything, but this isn't because it's a miracle, it's because decades worth of safety engineering from fire-resistant clothes, the driver compartment strenght and designated stresszones on the cars (better the car crumbles than the driver) and the safety halo that had at this time just recently been introduced. Post the flaming inferno having been extinguished you could quite clearly see the shape of the safety halo in the barrier and had that not been on the car, he would've almost assuredly died as his car plowed through the metal barrier. The fact he lived is owed to decades worth of learning from the blood and tears of others that saved Grosjean's life that day. All of you who say "thank god", don't forget to say "thank the engineers" too.
How the fire started was when the two halves separated, the fuel inlet stayed on the rear half and the open fuel tank went into the barrier and was then gushing fuel out, which ignited. The driver was trapped by his left foot under the brake pedal and had to remove his foot from his shoe to escape the fireball. We now have a device called a HALO and this saved his life, The Halo in this case split the barrier like a can opener, and the G force tore the car in half (56 I heard but don't quote me on this.) Edit. The race driver was okay, but was badly burned.
"That's a miracle right there. That is something unexplainable, however you wanna put it." That's safety precautions (like crashstructure, halo, fireresistant clothing etc.) in action right there. Didn't make it less dramatic or epic though, luck was still a factor and it could have still ended badly. Watched it live, was gutted. So glad this ended with relatively minor injuries. To think there's still people fighting or mocking whenever a new safety rule/feature is introduced/enforced, just crazy.
I watched this live, and I cried because I knew he was dead; I was convinced. But when he climbed out I cried some more because I knew he was alive. Sad tears, happy tears. It’s still so chilling to watch. I’m not a religious man, and so I don’t believe in miracles, but this almost changed my mind.
I haven't seen this breakdown of the crash before. I've seen a few but none so intense as this. Even though I know he got out okay, I'm 3-minutes in and seriously rocked by this once again.
In Netflix interview Grosjean said that it got to a point where he said goodbye to he's wife and kids. He tried out several times, first seat belt wouldn't release then he got that open ,and realized that he's left foot was stuck amongst the pedals. It was horrible to see. He retired after that. I would of too. Second chance in life. That's what he won.
He didn't retire because of the accident though. He got fired by the team long before the accident. But sure he missed the two races afterwards because of his injuries, but he hardly wanted to take part at the last race so the accident wouldn't be the conclusion of his F1 career. He's now racing in indycar.
I watched this race. It was horrifying. I think D2S did a good job of portraying how most - if not all - of us felt from seeing the fireball to seeing Grosjean in the back of the medical car. It felt like hours.
I remember watching this live along with the immense feeling of dread upon seeing the wreckage and fireball on screen. Still makes me emotional now as someone who lost a parent young thinking of what it would mean for his children. The emotional relief of witnessing him miraculously climb out 28 long seconds after the incident is impossible to describe.
I'm old enough to vividly remember April 30th and May 1st 1994, and it was an extremely dark time. Was my first time watching someone die on live tv essentially. Ratzenberger on the Saturday and Senna on the Sunday. Then we had Bianchi in 2014. F1 has been remarkably lucky and since 1994 the safety standards have increased massively. Their accidents look nothing like as bad as Grosjean's accident does. My first thought upon seing Grosjeans accident was that it was fatal. The fact the cameras at F1 are now in 4k means things like this are more visceral than ever. At 0:54 you can see him moving though the hole in the barrier on the right side of the flames, he's trying to remove the headrest from the car to make it easier to get out. Yes the car has split in half. it's designed to. The more bits come off the car, the less energy gets transferred to the driver and his survival cell (also known as chassis or tub). It's actually broken right at the point the engine mounts to the carbon fibre tub. The engine (and the rest of the drivetrain and rear suspension) is only held on by six bolts believe it or not. So that went through the barrier and the rear half of the car moved away. The titanium halo spread the armco barrier apart and prevented Grosjean's head becoming the bit to impact the barrier. The car seems to have been stopped by the roll hoop above and slightly behind the drivers head. Unfortunately that got caught and swung the tub around and onto it's side. That meant that the barrier is getting in his way. Still managed to get out though. His foot was stuck in the car and pulling it free made him lose a boot, but luckily F1 drivers race underwear is also fireproof.
I says a lot to be honest that we are all thinking back to to Senna/Ratzenburger/Barrichello Imola 1994. The big pile up in Belgium 1998 was nothing compared to this. This event was horrible for the younger folks watching F1. For us, who saw Senna crash, live TV, this, (i'm in tears thinking about it) .......
Remember watching that live, the relief and shock when he climbed out... His interview afterwards... So heavy, awake and aware the whole time. Some guy, time must have slowed down.
I also witnessed this live and have rewatched several times since. I completely appreciate how emotional you were, I get emotional every single time. We truly did witness a miracle that day. ❤
i remember watching this live and going, " nope theres no way" he was in there for a while. It was an exciting moment to see him come out of that. and then Zhou's crash this year was intense too when he tumbled over the barriers.
Was terrible watching that happen live. I thought I just saw someone die. The car split in two because the car hit an upright post in the barrier which pretty much split the car in half.
in the context of this crash I dont understand the drivers when they were bitching about the FIA demanding that their underwear should be fireproof and they should not use any jewellery in case they get into fire.
The jewellery bit is for defibrillation and MRI Lewis Hamilton is complaining because he has like 50 piercings he refuses to take out, and the underwear thing is easily solved by the manufacturer making them actually comfortable
Cannot watch this without tearing up. It is a miraculous escape I cannot begin to imagine what his family and the F1 family wer thinking. I mean we all thought he was dead. The relief after he got out for me was just enormous I can only imagine what his family thought. Love you Grosjean and so happy you are still with us.
I was shocked by the Formula 3 crash in 2018 when 17-year-old Sophia Floersch went airborne and slammed into a media stand some 12 feet off the ground. She survived, but how is anyone's guess: ua-cam.com/video/ju2oF2d4vGA/v-deo.html
A friendly photog was in that booth and his sony a9 was able to take like 5 shots before she hit.. he was very lucky and gave the images to the fia to figure out what happend.
I already knew the ending and what was going to happen and my reactioin still mirrored your reaction. Unbelievable stress followed by unbelievable relief. Superhuman in every way. Believe what you want but that was actually an act of amazing engineering. Show that to highschoolers who need a push to do their maths and science homework because this is what is achieved by those who apply themselves to their schoolwork.
This was such a surreal moment to watch on TV as it happened. Our hearts stopped until we saw him climb out. That day, every Formula 1 fan was a Grosjean fan....every once of us....
I met him this September at the IndyCar race in Portland. He said that the reason he survived was because he was wearing Velcro shoes, which didn’t meet regulations, but nobody noticed. His foot was trapped under the pedals, but he was eventually able to pull his foot out of the shoe because he worked the Velcro loose. Incredibly nice guy…glad he survived!
The Halo was one of the biggest reasons he survived this crash. Even though the drivers hated it when it was introduced it has saved a lot of drivers lives. Modern fire suits and all the safeties built into the cars is a modern marvel
I’m a die hard F1 fan living less than 40 miles from a NASCAR track and I’ve started to become more interested in NASCAR since Kimi. Glad to see the cross over on the content, I enjoyed your commentary and realistic touch to the video. As far as the watching the race was less intense but just as frightening live, I was dumbfounded that a modern day F1 car could break in two like that. I witnessed Dales passing with my father who was a raise hell and praise Dale kinda man. I remember watching the accident and thinking there is no way that impact killer him. Especially considering there was an accident that happened pervious to Dales where a car went airborne, apologizes I cannot remember who it was.
I remember watching that live. How he survived is truly incredible. It goes in a category of the worst of the worst I’ve seen. Unfortunately most of those wrecks in that category a driver doesn’t usually survive. It just puts in perspective how much is risked every time they get into the car.
I remember watching this live. I thought for certain he was gone but it was truly gods miracle that he survived and is now racing in Indycar. He himself has nicknamed that corner PHOENIX CORNER.
I saw this accident live as many others did and it was unbelievable. And in an interview a while after he fully recovered he said that while he was trying to get out, there was so much fire around that he could not tell which way was up or out. Thank God for the halo.
I remember seeing this live, having breakfast with my family and in my mind he was dead, I legitimately thought I saw an driver die on tv, and it felt like it took forever for him to get out. Since then I’ve rewatched the beginning of the race in edited and it’s a lot quicker then it initially felt. But this still gives me chills and I don’t think that will ever go away.
6:31 The team of scientists that designed the suit to be fire resistant: 😐 Jokes aside this was really rough and we are glad that he was indeed lucky to come out alive
I was in the passenger seat of a car whilst watching this race on my phone; i remember putting my phone down, looking at my wife and just muttering "hes dead", I was close to tears. What a miracle he survived.
The horrific accident will stick with you for a long time, as does any other big accident in racing. What I like about your videos is your down to earth and humane approach. I have been following F1 for a looooong time and to see how you slowly submerge yourself in the F1 world is amazing.
I’ll never forget watching the live, my first time watching him race live and still praying that he would live even though it was highly unlikely he would survive, and then literally seeing this man rise out of the flames. The Phoenix Grosjean. What a fucking boss.
As other have said, watching it in real time is something else. Watching the AMG Merc Safety Car come barrelling up at full tilt, and the speed of the flames, and seeing the heat keeping everyone away is something else. I saw this race live and when I saw the explosion, know what the car had hit, I would have bet every penny I had just witnessed a fatal crash. I've saw Senna and Jules live too, and while Jules was less obvious and Senna you thought maybe, this was certain death in my mind. Just like many, I just sat there ridged and stuck to my seat.
I'm watching this, despite knowing the outcome, in tears... Just because of the memory of watching this live at the time. Sheer terror. You went through the wringer here as we all did. It was a miracle you're right x
The moment it happened was incredibly scary, still can’t believe he came out alive. Credit to all the people who put safety first and made F1 cars able to withstand such deadly forces. If you haven’t seen Senna or the documentary that was with the Rush DVD, I thoroughly recommend them. Sid Watkins’ work has probably saved dozens of drivers over the last 30 years
honestly, watching it live it felt so long! he was lucky that the halo bent the barrier so the protective cell around the driver could slip through in one piece, but also unlucky that it broke the car apart and released the fuel, which shouldn't happen at all, and also that the barrier was kinda in his way to exit the car. so good that they wear several layers of protective gear which gave him the precious time to make an exit himself.
This crash was just crazy id watched formula one for 30yrs and never seen anything like it the fact he walked out just shows how safe these cars really are
Not Sure how other Channels Have Reacted to This... Mine Has been Blocked, So watch this quick!! It might be force Blocked again and taken down :(
It is explainable Ian... It wasn't God.
I don't think this should be blocked, this only shows how good modern fire suits can be. This was an upgrade that occurred in that same season and if he had been in the previous season's fire suit may not have survived. The cockpit halo also saved his life, that's the bar that goes in front of the driver's face, had that not been there the fence would have probably decapitated him. There is an interview with Grosjean where he explains his side of the story, in short, an absolute miracle. He was in the fireball for 27 seconds for him to get out, which is a long time to be in a fireball in any situation. All he came out with was a burnt left hand which required some skin grafts and a foot from memory.
Grosjean interview with Sky News: ua-cam.com/video/QDT-tMtdfSo/v-deo.html
Reminds me of the crash of Nikki Lauda who suffered severe burns from his crash way back in the mid to late 70's.
your first pronunciation was good!!
look at Gilles Villeneuve F1 driver.... you won't be disappointed!!
It was amazing that he was able to survive what looked like it would be a fatal crash. It is also amazing that even after this horrible crash that he still decided to continue racing. He now races in Indycar. There is a video that explains quite a lot about the crash. Here is a link to it ua-cam.com/video/LcxdZKM1JEU/v-deo.html&ab_channel=F1SPORTS
I watched this live and was 100% sure that we lost him. The relief when they showed him come out of the flames was undescribable.
Everybody was sure about it at this moment but no one wanted to speak it out.
Right. Because for about 15mins they didn't tell us anything.
I remember it watching it live too. I also thought we had lost him
Same. I was sick to my stomach watching this live. I can still remember yelling out loud "get him out, get him out" so loud I freaked out my kids in the next room. I still get emotional watching replays more than a year later.
@@brada562 Same, though I had it recorded because I couldn't watch it live so I avoided pretty much all social media for the 6 or 8 hours after the race until I could watch it. Had no idea what had happened until I was watching the recorded race. I for sure thought I'd just watched a driver die and the relief when I saw his head pop up on the other side of the barrier was incredible. Up to that point since it's introduction I'd hated the halo. Yeah it was a safety thing but it was hideous and made the cars look just not like an F1 car should. After this crash I did a complete 180. If not for the halo, Grosjean would have died that day.
You need to watch the accident in real time without the theatric pausing. It is still frightening and shows the benefit of having the medical car follow the pack around for the full first lap. THAT and the Halo are what helped save his life as they were able to attend so quickly.
It’s also a poorly positioned barrier that probably should have had techpro or something
And the fireresistant suit and underwear
@@dylanzrim3635 nobody has ever gone off there, and there is a lot of runoff area. It was a freak accident
Totally agree. If you're watching the DTS replay of this, it's so prolonged and dragged out as if he was sitting in fire for 15 minutes. I'm not saying it wasn't a horrible crash, but in real time it was over in less than a minute or probably less than 30 seconds. I'd have to watch the original footage again. But it definitely didn't take as long as they portray it.
I agree, Netflix are a joke for dramatising this. Watching it live we didn’t know the outcome for quite a while, as for obvious reasons, they didn’t show what was happening until they confirmed 💯 he was ok. It was a horrible wait, fearing the worst.
28seconds to get out in real time is still a miracle and shows how good the technology of the car and suit are.
The real-life time from impact to him getting out of the car was 28 seconds. Obviously the halo saved him, or he would have been decapitated going through the armco barrier, similar to both Helmuth Koinigg and Francois Cevert at Watkins Glen in the '70s. Then the updated fire suits and helmets saved him from the fire. One of Niki Lauda's major injuries from his fiery crash at Nurburgring was his lungs getting scorched by burning, toxic fumes. Investigations of Grosjean's helmet note that there wasn't ANY fire or smoke damage inside his helmet.
Indeed 28 seconds. As this was not even long enough of heartbreak drama. Noooo, Netflix needs to add a lot to it on top and slow motions etc etc as it took minutes to spice up the drama even more. It makes me sick to the stomach haw that is played at Netflix. Shame on them. Any idea how that looks and feels to people close to him if they seen this? Shame on Netflix
I didn’t know that - interesting. And fairly unexplainable outside of God intervening.
@@Lucas_Pit I feel like it does the total opposite, 28 seconds to him probably felt like hours. This gave the same emotions his family felt.
Stop being salty at a piece of art.
@@Lucas_Pit
@@Revheadrev very explainable without divine intervention. Literally nothing but human science, engineering and ingenuity.
Hi. F1 fan here. I watched the race live and my first reaction to the crash was "is that fire?" Then seeing the car split in half I was speechless. It's a miracle Romain Grosjean survived. DTS stretched the drama but it was a shocking 28 seconds. It was a relief seeing Romain get out of the car. The halo which was thumbed down when it was introduced saved his life. I have so much respect for the halo now. I also recommend Jolyon Palmer's analysis of the crash.
just to clarify, cars break in half during an accident is a safety feature
@@sbk3085 they do but it's still pretty rare to have a crash bad enough to see it happen.
He was in the fire for 2min and 45 secs.
@marconucci2713 no, he wasn't. It was 28 seconds. If it had been 2 min 45 seconds he would have died. All of the fire protecting clothing he was wearing can only withstand fire like that for 12 or so seconds. They do wear several layers of flame resistant clothing on their bodies, but its still measured in seconds. That's why f1 drivers have to be able to get out of their cars in under 10 seconds.
I cried bro, that amount of fire is a horrible death, when I saw him leaving I couldn't believe it, for a split second I thought it was a firefighter who tried to help the pilot.
I saw it live and thought for sure we saw a fatal crash. I can’t even describe the relief seeing him jump out of the flames. Absolutely incredible moment I’ll never forget.
They did not give the viewers information for like 15 mins as i remember so i just saw the fireball and then silence. That was the most tense i have felt during a GP.
@@traqnhristov960 they had no info for that long, its better to hold off and make sure the info is correct that spin up the rumour mill.
yeah, i as many others "knew" that he was dead, turns out (thank whatever deiety you beleave in) i was wrong.
@@DanBowyer-zp6ik least they could do was to say he's out of the car
@@traqnhristov960 they did say he was and showed that as it happened? Saw it live they definitely cut to him getting out as soon as he did
There is a reason he is known as the Phoenix now in Indycar. He wanted to walk to the ambulance to prove to his wife and kids that he was safe and not hurt, only suffered a twisted ankle and burnt hands, came back racing couple weeks later. It’s incredible that he survived that
@MrXuppyyy thomasx Still racing, though not F1.
The Phoenix, fitting nickname.
Only to crash in every indycar race nowadays
@@CookingWithCowsyeah he used to do that in f1 too
Jesus loves you!❤
2 burnt hands and a twisted ankle. It's legitimately incredible. 28 seconds from impact to him getting out, and that's the sum of his injuries.
Remember my heart sinking when I saw that live. Simply amazing he could come out of that.
You like the IndyCar, right? Grosjean drives for Andretti racing in the series. Cheers.
And in todays cars the crash would be even less injuring. This crash caused the cars to be able to split without tearing open the fuel cell, which is what happened to his car
Had he been there for longer he would definately bee dead
The safety cell, the hans system, and particularly the halo saved his body... A small fast prayer from millions around the world, at his address, at the same time kept him alive is my guess... This was truly a miracle. I wonder what would have happened to the sport if he did not survive sometimes...
28 seconds is so long for a situation like this. Glad he’s still racing today.
You should watch the interview that Grosjean gave afterwards talking about his experience sitting in the flames thinking about relaxing and giving up his life to the flames until he thought about his wife and children. Extremely moving. 🔥🔥💯💯❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🍻🍻🇺🇸🇺🇸
I was literally about to write this exact comment 😂
It was amazing how he went through what felt like 3 minutes in like 20 seconds and the breakdown of it all is rlly moving
When he said, he said he accepted his death, but said he couldn’t go out just waiting to die.
He said he had to give it another shot, for his family. Killed me
Yup. He wast stuck and did not succeed to extract himself. And thought he will die. But he thought about his family and that gave him the boost of strength he needed.
By the way, it's a "miracle", but the "halo" system and the protective suit he wore are the scientific explanation of that miracle.
Came to say the same thing. He was pinned in the car by the cars halo and a crash barrier over his head. Crazy he survived that!!
ua-cam.com/video/QDT-tMtdfSo/v-deo.html
It wasn’t shown live in real time. All coverage of the incident stopped when they saw the fireball. They just showed people in the pits reacting. They only shared the escape footage when he already in the ambulance.
Well thats terrible directing, hope somebody got fired.
@@catsabotage3362no it wasn’t. They quite rightly never show potentially fatal accidents. They always wait until they know everyone is ok.
@@catsabotage3362 Piety must be a very foreign word to you.
@@ljw5768 which is bad direction.
@@catsabotage3362 no. It’s respect. Look it up in a dictionary.
He actually stays exactly 28 seconds in the fire.
He posted a video on youtube in french on the accident, according to him at first their was a piece of a car that was blocking him from getting off the car, he couldn't push it at first and for a moment he thought he was done and almost accept his death, but at the last moment he thought about his wife and childs and this give him enough motivation to try one more time and he miraculously manage to push the piece that was obstructing him and get off. In the end he only got a burn on the hand no other major damage.
Big shout out also to the guy that help him get off and catch him when he jumps over the barrier, that guy is a hero, he got burn in the face helping Grosjean, didn't hesitate to put himself in danger to help Grosjean get off the car.
His foot was stuck at first, and the halo, which had just saved him from decapitation, was blocking him from getting out. He smashed his helmet repeatedly against the headrest to break it, so he could get around the halo. The guy helping is the race doctor, who really went above and beyond, it was not his job, but the fire marshalls were nowhere, so he had only 1 thought, to save Grosjean.
I was watching when Senna and Ratzenberger lost their lives, and was also watching when Grosjean crashed. I immediately thought the worse. Not only was it an absolute miracle that he survived, but a testament to the all the safety initiative that the sport has embraced. So thankful that engineers have worked so tirelessly to keep the drivers safe.
Same on all for me too, very scary.
ye i remember that tragic day so sad 2 drivers in one weeked
I watched those live too... as well as Berger's fiery crash live...
I thought this was the big.one for Romain, literally shook when he walked out of it.
Same for me too. This is still a very tough watch for me, goosebumps, lump in throat.
Don't forget Michael Schumachers crash where he broke both his legs.
The reason his ski accident and subsequent non recovery hit so hard for many people was because he survived some F1 crashes still having severe damage, to then return to racing soon after, still utterly owning the field.
the first driver who asked his engineer over the radio in this video is Charles Leclerc, who lost his godfather, Jules Bianchi, and his dear friend, F2 driver Anthoine Hubert, in a serious accident during the race. I think that might be why his reaction is so emotional at that moment. To race in F1 or any motorsports, These guys' mental health must be on another level.
And the very sad loss of Jules is what prompted the halo, the only silver lining.
Jules Bianchi to sad he died, thats an extreme sport, but die at this age, what a tragedy. They're always on the edge.
Was he really his godfather, though? I always thought that was just a rumour considering they only have around 8 years of age gap.
@@simonnewby1215 the halo project was started in part due to henry surtees death. f1 revisited the question of head protection after jules death. but is widely regarded that outcome of jules crash with the halo would be boradly similar. the reaction to jules death was vsc
@@TheDjsmurph indeed, thanks for clarifying.
i recommend watching Grosjean's interview afterward, it's... really heavy because he was conscious of what was happening to him, and so he can tell what was going through his head, like asking himself, when he noticed his leg was stuck in the cockpit "oh, ok I can't get out... I'm stuck, like Nikki Lauda... is it gonna hurt ? How long is it gonna take ?" , it's... pretty haunting.
Makes me tear up every time.
Honestly a miracle he survived the way he did. Anyone who saw that live or who saw and didn’t know the outcome absolutely thought there’s no way you can survive that. I know Roman also thought he wasn’t getting out. Insane
I remember watching this live and I was totally in shock. It felt like hours waiting for any sign of him getting out alive. Crazy how your perception of time changes when something like this happens.
What is amazing is listening to Grosjean after the accident. In the fireball, Grosjean thought about Niki Lauda who was badly burned in an F1 crash, he kind of gave up - then thoughts of his family drove him to do whatever he could to get out of the car, rescue himself and survive! It was amazing to see him in Toronto last month racing IndyCars!
I think this is the greatest crash in F1 history. Doing a Lauda, and then walking away. It has everything and the ending turned out positive.
Yup. Greatest crash in F1 history.
I am actually shocked he drives IndyCar after that. I mean F1 has the highest standards when it comes to safety, plus the speed in Indy is much higher.
You know how much I waited for the day Michael Schumacher would finally finish his career. I was so afraid something might happen. Just wanted him to leave as a living 7times champion. And then that accident ski accident happend ... such a bitter irony.
Dude, don’t apologize for feeling emotion. I watched this live. I was in tears and still get choked up watching this, Dan Weldon’s crash, and Earnhardts. Thankfully this crash had a good outcome. Love your content.
Even watching it like 5 times after, I am still shocked. And then it spooks me even more that you could see Grosjean move ALL THROUGHOUT that crash footage!!! Like seriously, you can even see his headrest and helmet move around even at 0:55
@@inno-v8-ion165 I get chills every time I watch it. I thought I was watching someone burn to death on live tv. I’ll never forget it. The relief when he got out was insane
Me too i just can’t help it, i was screaming at the tv screen when it happened.
Same here I saw Grosjean's crash live as well Adn I still have nightmares from it
Same. Was literally scared I just saw someone die. It was still too long even live, despite the stupid DTS cut.
In case you didn't know, Romain Grosjean is now racing in IndyCar. That crash happened on 29 November 2020, in what proved to be his final Formula 1 race. He had burnt his hands quite badly, but just five months later he started his IndyCar career at the Grand Prix of Alabama.
I watched that live, and I honestly thought that was the end for Grosjean. It was horrific. I also watched the Formula 2 crash in Belgium in 2019 that unfortunately claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert. Grosjean's incident looked just as bad on TV.
I believe I watched this live, I just started watching f1 around this time
Personally I think the fire made this one look worse, but we know how fast the top of eau rouge is even for an f2 car
It was already his last F1 race, he was leaving F1 for IndyCar after this last race of the season.
And the fire didnt make this look worse, it was every bit as bad, as it looked. It was later calculated, that he hit 67Gs going through that barrier, that no car was supposed to get through. Then his foot was stuck, and he thought, he was going to die, until he thought of his wife and children and started fighting to get free. Then he couldnt get out of the car due to the halo, which had just saved him from being decapitated going through the barrier, and he had to smash his helmet repeatedly against the headrest to break the headrest to be able to climb out around the halo.
Meanwhile the fire marshalls were nowhere to be seen, it was the race doctor and his driver there at front helping, the doctor seeing Grosjean move in the fire and directing his driver where to focus his exstiguisher, and after several attempts to get close (the doctor was only wearing basic fire protection equipment and no facial protection at all, he got a couple of superficial burns in the proces) he managed to get close enough to help Grosjean climb the barrier out of the fire.
As Grosjeans team manager said, he knew, when he saw the fireball, they have 15-20 seconds to get out, if theyre not out after 20 seconds, theyre not coming out. Grosjean came out after 28 seconds. He survived an unsurvivably accident with reletively minor injuries and made a full recovery.
Thats why his fellow drivers nicknamed him Phoenix.
100% agree with you. I ve seen this race live. Nobody expected him to Service even without the fire. Nothing less than a miracle. You should see the car after fire was out. And he wanted to race again after a few weeks.
6:40 it is not a miracle=) It is technologies... 100+ years of safety development any many tragically lost drivers gave us so high safety standards.. HALO was introduced just year before that crash and without it Roman could be decapitated like many others before him...
I watched this live, and while Drive to Survive extends the drama quite a bit, those 28 seconds between the crash and Grosjean getting out felt like a lifetime.
If this had happened a couple of years earlier he would have died, the HALO device that was introduced after Jules Bianchi's death in 2015 saved him.
So what happened was the force of the crash split the barrier allowing the front end to pass through, but then the car hit one of the support struts on the side which caused it to split, rupturing the fuel tank and causing the fireball. The front bit of the car was wedged sideways, which is why Grosjean had to wiggle himself up and out, getting burned in his wrists and ankles as a result.
And his crash might have also saved lives.
The cars now are made to split in a way that the fuel cell doesn't rip open like in Grosjean's crash
Also, in real time they didn't update the viewer or the paddock for many minutes on his status, it really felt as long as portrait here.
I also watched this live and it was horible.
yeah live where the fuckers at F1 didnt update the viewers for over 5 minutes
@@lucasgamezz140what doesn't get conveyed here is the car was designed to split in the event of this kind of crash. Just the fuel tank wasn't designed well enough for it. The energy removed from the driver by releasing the engine and the back half of the car is part of the driver safety pod system. Anything that will compromise the safety pod is designed to shear away to allow the pod to keep its integrity.
Don't apologise mate. Nothing wrong with showing emotion. I just watched this, I knew survived cos I remembered the incident, but its still very emotional seeing him escape.
The car is designed to split in two, it takes the weight of the engine and gearbox away from the driver in a big impact. But in this case the Armco barrier ripped the fuel cell. He was in the car for 29 seconds after the impact, Netflix did extend the drama for TV. The medical car with a doctor on board was the first to arrive to help, an unbelievable incident, amazing he survived.
Not entirely correct, they're not designed to split in the middle like that, hence the fire. Mick Schumacher's crash at Monaco ua-cam.com/video/k49uz7HraD4/v-deo.html shows how the rear assembly is designed to break away.
@@guzslat75 They can break between engine and gearbox (Schumacher) or between engine and monocoque. The latter happens very rarely, but it's been known to happen, and usually there is no fire involved. I guess in this case the problem was that it didn't break on impact, but was rather ripped apart when the front of the car got stuck while the rest of it still carried loads of momentum.
just 29s? So it was just drama. That explains how he survived. The suit and helmet is designed to resist fire for a while. More impressive was surving the impact.
@@HeavenlyWarrior More that he found the strength to get out himself having just survived the impact, while the main opening of the HALO was blocked by the armco.
The most shocking part for me as an F1 fan was the fact that he went through the armco like that, knowing that without the HALO device that was just introduced in 2018, this would've 100% been a fatality, and probably the ugliest scene ever to be captured by F1 TV cameras.
NOW the car is designed to split. This crash literally caused a reg change since in this crash the fuel cell got ripped open. It won't happen now anymore
The Phoenix has risen from the fiery hell. Took a little over 28 seconds for him to get out. Main problem was 2nd degree burns on his hands.
I’m with you totally with you on fatal crashes. Witnessing Senna, Wheldon & Bianchi will never leave me. As for this crash, I saw it live and I think I held my breath from the time the fireball started to the time he climbed out. It was probably between 30-60 seconds, but felt like minutes. My reaction was no different to yours, but in a sick kind of way it’s thrilling too. I’m in my 50’s and I don’t recall ever getting an adrenaline kick like that from watching sport on TV. I was all over the place for a good half an hour afterwards
He was in the fire 29s. Grosjean actually drives indycars this season
he is racing indycar since 2021
@@oneumbrella yep
@@oneumbrella and we call him the phoenix.
@@aawwmm i know he calls himself phoenix.. im just glad hes alive, here in geneva (SWISS) he is a hero..
@@oneumbrella T'as du culot de te considérer comme Suisse en habitant à Genève.
The car went through the rail which ripped the car in two parts thus igniting the fuel (fuel tank is behind the driver) but the halo system made him survive going through the rail... in the video, the montage is made to make it more dramatic, but in real life it happened in ~27 seconds. We have to thank the medical and security crew for their quick response because the netflix montage does not really honor them. Romain could stay alive also thanks to the suit but man.. he is really, really really lucky to get out of this alive and it really shows how insanely safe F1 cars have become since the halo system was introduced back in 2018
it were "only" 27s but on live tv it felt much longer
A more technical video whould have been dooing the safety management and engineering , which have saved his live, justice
@@iZeb0x yeah I saw it live too, but this was just to say that the netflix editing made it look even much more longer
@@iZeb0x Watching live we had no idea how long it was we only got to see images when we knew he was ok and checked... The waiting is the bad part over the years you get a gut feeling but until they know they will limit what is shown... I can't remember 100% but i think it took 5m or more before we knew... when it happened i told my fam who where watching with me... wow that was way too much fire but i guess the good thing is most of the fuel will be done quickly then we had to wait... no other video was shown until after the ok.
It was also fortunate that this happened on lap 1 so the medical car was on track behind the pack, and they got there shortly after the crash.
I still remember watching this live on TV. The fact he was up and about in no time at all (relatively) is just testament to the safety measures in modern F1.
I was watching this race live on Sky-F1 channel here in UK - I thought for sure he was done for.
Though he was in the burning wreck for 28 seconds, it felt MUCH longer while watching live - Drive to Survive stretched it out much further for dramatic effect....
I could barely believe it when I saw him in the medical car looking almost unscathed apart from the obvious look on his face.
The fact his physical injuries only consisted of burns to his hands and ankles is a testament to modern safety features such as the Halo device, and the effectiveness of modern fireproof clothing.
FIA has the cockpit on display at some museum somewhere. I heard. It’s fried. I think they did a full exam on the car to see what worked and what needs work for improved safety. What made it all the more frustrating was Romain had a foot wedged and had to rip a shoe off to get free. Also when he came to he said he had no idea what’s up or what’s down and got his head partially in the guardrail hole. So he had to go back into the fire and then find the real way out. All in 28 seconds. He had a full fuel load because this wreck happened early.
I belive that Museum is in Madrid, Spain. The Front half of the car as well as the steering wheel are on Display
It's currently on display in London at the Excel F1 Exhibition, i was there a couple of days ago. The crash video is on the screen with the chassis next to you, very thought provoking.
Yeah, this was the first lap of the race, thats why the medical car was there within a couple of seconds, they follow after them for the first lap and first lap only. Otherwise it wouldve taken a lot longer to get help.
It was the halo, which saved him from decapitation going through a barrier, that no car was supposed to be able to go through, but it also blocked him from getting out. After freeing his foot he smashed his helmet against the headrest several times to break the headrest to be able to climb out around the halo.
And its insane, that he was even conscious to do all that. It was later calculated, that he hit 67Gs going through that barrier. He really earned his new nickname. Phoenix.
Edit: I absolute abhor the Netflix version, drawing it out for several minutes for "suspence". The raw 28 seconds are quite enough, in fact its far more powerful than their crap.
Watching this live was something else. I honestly think i didn't take a breath until he emerged from those flames. Insane! And incredible! We must all be thankful for the incredible improvements to safety that even a crash like this lead to no critical permanent injuries. Absolutely amazing!
This. I'm old enough to have seen the tape delay of Lorenzo Bandini being incinerated at Monaco in 1967. I'm astounded at the advances of modern technology.
I watched this crash live on tv. I also thought this was the end for Grosjean. In the end it was the safety rules that saved him. The halo protected his head as he went through the barrier and it was the protective clothing protectected him from the fire long enough to make his way out of the car.
You right there the mad thing is they literally updated the race suits that year to last longer in a fire, hence why he only got burns to his hands as the hands and shoes wasn't updated along with the overalls
And his crash gave information that makes the cars even more safe.
I think everyone believed he wouldn't make it out of there
Don't forget those ballsy boys in the medical car. They were right there on top of things and literally ran towards that inferno to help get him out.
@@southerninterloper4107 they did but they didn't save his life. Without the protective measures they wouldn't have had to get out of their car to help him. He'd be dead.
Saw this happen in real time as I was watching the race. It was easily the scariest moment in the almost 30 years I've been watching F1, certainly since Imola 94. We witnessed a miracle for sure.
*28 seconds* Grosjean was in the fireball, they have since reported. Netflix really extends the sensation of it for drama. You could critisize that, but maybe there is a safety message that comes across doing it that way.
As we see, Grosjean clipped Kvyat trying to advance and hit an Armco-type triple-barrier near head-on, suffering peak 50 to 60 Gs. The car split in half, the otherwise self-sealing gas tank erupted and triggered that fireball. The front half of the car went through the barrier while the, until then much harangued, Halo protected Grosjean's head from serious immmediate injury, but the front half then came to a rest on its side with Grosjean's head partly jammed towards the broken barrier, making it difficult for him to escape. The cockpit crumbled slightly from the impact, jamming one of his fire-retardant racing boots, so Grosjean, being fully conscious, initially hesitated to try and get out inside the fireball, all while the flames started to be doused by the quick arrival of marshals and the official medical car. Then Grosjean moved to fight his way out of the fire, in which he had to pull his foot out of the jammed shoe, and then managed to climb out of the cockpit and over the broken barrier, while the marshals kept the fireball partially at bay. Grosjean came away with a partially melted helmet visor and, more seriously, second-degree burns to both his hands and the foot that lost the racing shoe. He later required skin grafts to his left hand, which is visible as red scarring to this day (there is a picture ATM on his Wiki page), but he otherwise made a full recovery.
You can find a YT nine-screen comparison of the crash in real-time if searching "Romain Grosjean's Terrifying Crash (Multiple Angles) | F1 Bahrain2020". Those 28 seconds still feels like an eternity. YT won't let me add the direct link, but it's out there for hopefully educational posterity.
The car split in two partly bc its designed to under heavy impact, and bc the titanium roll-hoop couldnt pierce through the barrier like the nose cone and monocoque did. What shouldnt have happened is it catching fire as the fuel system is designed not to ignite when the car splits. For good measure, the metal barrier partly trapped Grosjean in the car and he had to wiggle round the halo and the barrier debris - One of his race boots got stuck in the car as well bc of how tight it was to get out.
There’s a couple of very insightful videos of how the accident played out which are very worth watching. The main takeaway from it all though, is that the halo well and truely saved Grosjeans life. Without a shadow of a doubt. Along with how insanely tough the safety cell/monocoque is these days.
Agreed. I have seen a video on UA-cam explaining the accident which includes an interview with Grojean where he tells the story of how he got out. A very lucky man!
The halo was one of the most valuable inventions in formula racing of the last decades.
In a relatively short time it saved A LOT of lives. Grosjean, Zhou, Hamilton, Leclerc, you name it. They all had horrible crashes which could have been fatal without halo.
I absolutly hated the Halo when it was introduced but oh boy was i wrong! It already saved multiple lives so far, best safety feature tehy introduced for some time and nowadays everyone is used to how it looks and its really not as bad as we made it out when it was new.
I was on the fence when the halo was introduced, but quickly enough saw how useful it was. Without the halo, Grosjean would've been decapitated by the barrier
Halo saved like 10 people from massive injuries and at least 3-4 lives in F1 in the last couple of years, some of them fighting for the title right now like Leclerc and Hamilton would have likely suffered a big injury in Monza last year. I think everyone is happy we have this thing now :D
He was inside that fireball for 28 to 29 seconds which must have seemed like an eternity. My biggest fear was that he would suffer fatal lung damage from breathing in those super heated gases.
He was wearing a new make firesuit for 2020 that had increased fire resistance but the standard fire proof gloves and boots. Ironically, some drivers had complained the new fire suits were too hot. His hands and his feet did have serious burns for which he did get some skin grafting.
The Hans device protected him from getting a basilar skull fracture from the sudden deceleration, and finally, the halo absolutely saved him from suffering the same fate as Helmut Koinigg who was decapitated at Watkins Glen in 1974 when his F1 car also went headfirst through the armco.
A lot of things had to go right for him to survive that horrific accident.
As I watched the crash live on TV I was completely shocked by what I saw. At first I was sure that he wasn‘t comming out but thanks to the halo, the roll hoop and the fact that the split in two (Formula 1 cars are designed to break like that so the occurring energy is cought in the part that breakes away which dramaticly decreases the load on the driver) grosjean could climb out of the car and survive with almost no injurys.
Definitely a miracle! For as much theatrics as drive to survive is, it really captured what we all felt. I watched this live and we all felt our heart I'm our throats. As long as he was in the fire, we all thought it was fatal.
I've been to us grand prix in Austin, Canadian grand prix and mexican grand prix. I've seen several accidents live but this was big. Almost as big and shitty a feeling as Jules Bianchi and Anthony Hubert crashes.
Honestly, I abhor Drive to Survive, and not just on this. The raw footage is far more powerful than their ridiculous theatrics drawing it out for minutes.
All these years on, and I still get choked up watching him climb out of the car. Big props for the people who made the safety gear that he was wearing. I wouldn't have thought it possible to survive in a fire for that long.
They didnt think, it was possible. As his own team manager said, he knew, when he saw the fireball, that Grosjean had 15-20 seconds to get out. If hes not out in 20 seconds, hes not coming out. And how it was rushing through his mind what to say to Grosjeans wife and the media. And then after 28 impossible seconds Grosjean climbed out, and Steiner, the manager, rushed to call Grosjeans wife.
Part of the reason, he was able to survive far longer, than the suits are made for, was, that this happened on the first lap, so the medical car was right behind him. The doctor was there in like 2 seconds, he saw Grosjean moving the fire and directed his driver to aim his extinguisher at Grosjean to help him get an escape route. But Grosjean still had to survive and stay conscious through, what was later calculated to be 67Gs! And then get his foot unstuck and smash the headrest with his helmet, hammering his head back repeatedly, to be able to climb out around the halo. Where the doctor without the proper gear still managed to get close enough to assist him over the barrier.
And no, Grosjean isnt blaming the halo. He was very much against it, when it was introduced, but hes the first to say now, that it saved his life, coz it saved him from being decapitated going through the barrier. He is now the halos biggest fan.
And he certainly earned his new nickname. Phoenix.
Hi, yeah saw this live. My thoughts went a bad place rather quickly. I saw both R.Ratzenberger and Senna die on live television and J.Bianci's crash at Suzuka, so it was a huge relief to see him crawl out of his wreck. Romain Grosjean has recovered and is now in Indy car.
Same, we seriously thought he'd had it, and yeah I also saw those other incidents live, tragic. I never did understand why Bianchi was going so fast under double waved yellows, but then the weather was bad
Man, thanks for showing such raw emotions whilst watching this as much as those of us who watched it live - this brought a tear to my eyes. As hard as they race, they're all part of the family that is F1 (us fans included) and thanks so much for helping to show the good and bad side of the sports that we love. This Drive to Survive episode was critical to show just how dangerous this sport is, how amazing the tech (halo/etc) is, and your commentary is appreciated. Much love from an Aussie x
I watched this live and even though I know the outcome it still brings tears to my eyes watching it. I sat on the edge of my seat just hoping that he was ok. We didn't know if he would survive and the parts you see weren't shown until we knew he was ok. Drive to Survive have stretched the time out, he was actually in the flames for 28 seconds. The Halo and all the protective clothing saved his life that day. Sadly it was after the death of Jules Bianchi that the Halo was created. It was the nose of the car just hitting the barrier at the wrong angle causing the horizontal bars to part, allowing the front half through and breaking the back half off, thereby causing the escape of fuel and the fire.
Watching this still makes me a touch emotional. I remember watching this live and was convinced I just watched him die.
The car is actually designed to split in two is actually a safety mechanism. It's ment to disperse the energy in a High G, crash to keep the driver safe. It's scary to see. But it's meant to happen in these kinds of scenarios.
They're not.
This race was the second F1 race I ever saw in full and it was ultimately the race that turned me into a fan while also showing me just how much drivers are putting on the line for the sport. When I saw the crash, I genuinely thought he died but was so happy to see him mantle that barrier. No matter who the driver is or what they do, I will have nothing but the utmost respect for the drivers that make this sport possible.
I had watched like a few minutes of some races before but never really cared and that race actually got me into F1 because of the same reasons you said. Never missed a race since then.
I watched it live back then, I was into the championship, never missing any race. That moment really lasted so much, and the longer it took, the more I thought "this is it, he cannot come out". I thought I was watching a live tragedy, like it happened with Senna and others. After what it seemed like an eternity, holding my breath, I finally saw a silouette moving in the flames and I couldn't believe my eyes. He was alive and I was so relieved. No tragedy this time, thank God ! But you know, those halos also had a role in keeping Grosjean alive. Think about that car split in two if it had no halo..... That thing reinforces the driver cockpit also, not just keep them from being hit by a loose wheel in the air or stuff like that.
The medic who grabbed him from the barrier had his suit scorched from the heat, just look at Grosjean's helmet as he steps out. Insane tech keeping these drivers alive.
Yes I noticed his helmet ⛑️ was blackish 😮. How did he survive this ? Having just watched this video ? How ????
@johnriddle6109 F1 cars have a honeycomb crumple zone in the nose to protect the driver's feet. The Halo force the wall over his head. The Hans device kept his body still through the wreck. And incredible fireproof suits kept him alive long enough to escape.
Incredible engineering
this was truly extraordinary. if he was knocked unconscious or part of him was stuck, he would've sat there surrounded by fire breathing in piping hot air with barely any oxygen in it for more than 2 minutes. he could've died from suffocation or severe heat damage to the lung. and of course, a 67G impact could've just killed him on impact. fortunately none of those happened. he jumped out of the wreckage and got away with some burns to the back of his hand and a sprung ankle.
The time between him crashing and seeing him get out were the longest minutes of my life. It was so insane to watch this live.
If you're gonna watch Drive to survive, then keep in mind that it is partly fiction! They made stories and rivalries that are non existent to make it more juicy. As an F1 fan, I really disliked last season because there is so much BS in there and it frames some drivers negatively and this is just wrong.
He's a racing fan though - imho he would do better and have more fun watching races and getting into the technical and strategy crap.
DTS is what is currently creating the toxic atmosphere and rivalries.
many new F1 'fans' who are only into the sport because of that shit program, with no idea of the nuances of the sport and are just utter scumbags in how they talk about other drivers.
@@soopafamicom well tbh F1 has a lot of toxicity, mainly between merc and RB and mainly verstappen fans who somehow feel the need to smoke out the track every time a race is anywhere within 3000km of the dutch border..
@@LunnarisLP or toxic fans who beat rival fans? I'd take the smoke any day
@@LunnarisLP How is the smoke part of the toxicity?? I always thought it was pretty cool. The Lewis and Verstappen fanbases are definitely the most toxic in the sport but neither are worse than the other imo.
Imagine watching this on TV Live and knowing that FIA doesn't show replays until they are certified that the pilot is fine.
It took almost 10 minutes to show the replay and his first image out of the car.
It was a matter of seconds when he jumped out of there, the clip you watched made it look like he was in fire for 5 minutes.
The doctor who jumped out of the medical car was a true hero this day. He physically reached into the fire to grab Grosjean.
Sure enough this is a spectacular sight to see him getting out of that crash under his own two feet despite everything, but this isn't because it's a miracle, it's because decades worth of safety engineering from fire-resistant clothes, the driver compartment strenght and designated stresszones on the cars (better the car crumbles than the driver) and the safety halo that had at this time just recently been introduced. Post the flaming inferno having been extinguished you could quite clearly see the shape of the safety halo in the barrier and had that not been on the car, he would've almost assuredly died as his car plowed through the metal barrier.
The fact he lived is owed to decades worth of learning from the blood and tears of others that saved Grosjean's life that day. All of you who say "thank god", don't forget to say "thank the engineers" too.
This comment is not remotly liked enough. This was no act of god, but man made engineering that saved this man's life.
How the fire started was when the two halves separated, the fuel inlet stayed on the rear half and the open fuel tank went into the barrier and was then gushing fuel out, which ignited. The driver was trapped by his left foot under the brake pedal and had to remove his foot from his shoe to escape the fireball. We now have a device called a HALO and this saved his life, The Halo in this case split the barrier like a can opener, and the G force tore the car in half (56 I heard but don't quote me on this.) Edit. The race driver was okay, but was badly burned.
badly burnt hands, nothing more*
"That's a miracle right there. That is something unexplainable, however you wanna put it."
That's safety precautions (like crashstructure, halo, fireresistant clothing etc.) in action right there.
Didn't make it less dramatic or epic though, luck was still a factor and it could have still ended badly. Watched it live, was gutted. So glad this ended with relatively minor injuries. To think there's still people fighting or mocking whenever a new safety rule/feature is introduced/enforced, just crazy.
It's also just still partially luck, like Senna was very unlucky. Him 'hardly' being hurt is truly a miracle, no matter all the safety measures...
@@skillaxxx Senna didn't have all these safety measures
@@EneaG He was still very unlucky with the suspension/wheelpart penetrating his helmet, the modern halo wouldn't have prevented that...
watching this live was insane, safety gear has come a long way. I'm really glad he is doing fine right now.
I watched this live, and I cried because I knew he was dead; I was convinced. But when he climbed out I cried some more because I knew he was alive. Sad tears, happy tears.
It’s still so chilling to watch. I’m not a religious man, and so I don’t believe in miracles, but this almost changed my mind.
This incident actually showed me that there are NO miracles.
This wasn't miracolous.
Science and technology kept him alive.
I haven't seen this breakdown of the crash before. I've seen a few but none so intense as this. Even though I know he got out okay, I'm 3-minutes in and seriously rocked by this once again.
In Netflix interview Grosjean said that it got to a point where he said goodbye to he's wife and kids.
He tried out several times, first seat belt wouldn't release then he got that open ,and realized that he's left foot was stuck amongst the pedals. It was horrible to see. He retired after that. I would of too. Second chance in life. That's what he won.
He didn't retire because of the accident though. He got fired by the team long before the accident. But sure he missed the two races afterwards because of his injuries, but he hardly wanted to take part at the last race so the accident wouldn't be the conclusion of his F1 career.
He's now racing in indycar.
I watched this race. It was horrifying. I think D2S did a good job of portraying how most - if not all - of us felt from seeing the fireball to seeing Grosjean in the back of the medical car. It felt like hours.
I remember watching this live with my dad.. he was in there for 2 minutes at least
I remember watching this live along with the immense feeling of dread upon seeing the wreckage and fireball on screen. Still makes me emotional now as someone who lost a parent young thinking of what it would mean for his children.
The emotional relief of witnessing him miraculously climb out 28 long seconds after the incident is impossible to describe.
That’s not a miracle. It’s an engineering masterpiece.
I'm old enough to vividly remember April 30th and May 1st 1994, and it was an extremely dark time. Was my first time watching someone die on live tv essentially. Ratzenberger on the Saturday and Senna on the Sunday. Then we had Bianchi in 2014. F1 has been remarkably lucky and since 1994 the safety standards have increased massively. Their accidents look nothing like as bad as Grosjean's accident does. My first thought upon seing Grosjeans accident was that it was fatal.
The fact the cameras at F1 are now in 4k means things like this are more visceral than ever.
At 0:54 you can see him moving though the hole in the barrier on the right side of the flames, he's trying to remove the headrest from the car to make it easier to get out.
Yes the car has split in half. it's designed to. The more bits come off the car, the less energy gets transferred to the driver and his survival cell (also known as chassis or tub). It's actually broken right at the point the engine mounts to the carbon fibre tub. The engine (and the rest of the drivetrain and rear suspension) is only held on by six bolts believe it or not.
So that went through the barrier and the rear half of the car moved away. The titanium halo spread the armco barrier apart and prevented Grosjean's head becoming the bit to impact the barrier. The car seems to have been stopped by the roll hoop above and slightly behind the drivers head. Unfortunately that got caught and swung the tub around and onto it's side. That meant that the barrier is getting in his way. Still managed to get out though. His foot was stuck in the car and pulling it free made him lose a boot, but luckily F1 drivers race underwear is also fireproof.
I says a lot to be honest that we are all thinking back to to Senna/Ratzenburger/Barrichello Imola 1994. The big pile up in Belgium 1998 was nothing compared to this. This event was horrible for the younger folks watching F1. For us, who saw Senna crash, live TV, this, (i'm in tears thinking about it) .......
Remember watching that live, the relief and shock when he climbed out... His interview afterwards... So heavy, awake and aware the whole time. Some guy, time must have slowed down.
I also witnessed this live and have rewatched several times since. I completely appreciate how emotional you were, I get emotional every single time. We truly did witness a miracle that day. ❤
i remember watching this live and going, " nope theres no way" he was in there for a while. It was an exciting moment to see him come out of that. and then Zhou's crash this year was intense too when he tumbled over the barriers.
Right!? They always cut the cameras though. Took 40 mins to finally see what happened
Was terrible watching that happen live. I thought I just saw someone die.
The car split in two because the car hit an upright post in the barrier which pretty much split the car in half.
in the context of this crash I dont understand the drivers when they were bitching about the FIA demanding that their underwear should be fireproof and they should not use any jewellery in case they get into fire.
The jewellery bit is for defibrillation and MRI
Lewis Hamilton is complaining because he has like 50 piercings he refuses to take out, and the underwear thing is easily solved by the manufacturer making them actually comfortable
It was subsequently discovered that Grosjean has a titanium alloy exoskeleton and an Austrian accent. He also prefers plasma weapons for missions.
Cannot watch this without tearing up. It is a miraculous escape I cannot begin to imagine what his family and the F1 family wer thinking. I mean we all thought he was dead. The relief after he got out for me was just enormous I can only imagine what his family thought. Love you Grosjean and so happy you are still with us.
I was shocked by the Formula 3 crash in 2018 when 17-year-old Sophia Floersch went airborne and slammed into a media stand some 12 feet off the ground. She survived, but how is anyone's guess: ua-cam.com/video/ju2oF2d4vGA/v-deo.html
A friendly photog was in that booth and his sony a9 was able to take like 5 shots before she hit.. he was very lucky and gave the images to the fia to figure out what happend.
Every time I see that crash just amazes me that no one was killed.
Sophia and marshals and media people was realy lucky no one died that was also a horrific crash
Holy crap! That looked insane
I already knew the ending and what was going to happen and my reactioin still mirrored your reaction. Unbelievable stress followed by unbelievable relief. Superhuman in every way.
Believe what you want but that was actually an act of amazing engineering. Show that to highschoolers who need a push to do their maths and science homework because this is what is achieved by those who apply themselves to their schoolwork.
I watched this race live on TV with my family. We all gasped in shock when this happend
This was such a surreal moment to watch on TV as it happened. Our hearts stopped until we saw him climb out. That day, every Formula 1 fan was a Grosjean fan....every once of us....
The emotions are so palpable in these interviews. I'm so thankful he got out with minor injuries!
I met him this September at the IndyCar race in Portland. He said that the reason he survived was because he was wearing Velcro shoes, which didn’t meet regulations, but nobody noticed. His foot was trapped under the pedals, but he was eventually able to pull his foot out of the shoe because he worked the Velcro loose. Incredibly nice guy…glad he survived!
The Halo was one of the biggest reasons he survived this crash. Even though the drivers hated it when it was introduced it has saved a lot of drivers lives. Modern fire suits and all the safeties built into the cars is a modern marvel
I’m a die hard F1 fan living less than 40 miles from a NASCAR track and I’ve started to become more interested in NASCAR since Kimi. Glad to see the cross over on the content, I enjoyed your commentary and realistic touch to the video. As far as the watching the race was less intense but just as frightening live, I was dumbfounded that a modern day F1 car could break in two like that. I witnessed Dales passing with my father who was a raise hell and praise Dale kinda man. I remember watching the accident and thinking there is no way that impact killer him. Especially considering there was an accident that happened pervious to Dales where a car went airborne, apologizes I cannot remember who it was.
I watched this with my family as it happened. The moment he appeared from the flames was one of the most emotional things I have ever witnessed.
I remember watching that live. How he survived is truly incredible. It goes in a category of the worst of the worst I’ve seen. Unfortunately most of those wrecks in that category a driver doesn’t usually survive. It just puts in perspective how much is risked every time they get into the car.
I remember watching this live. I thought for certain he was gone but it was truly gods miracle that he survived and is now racing in Indycar. He himself has nicknamed that corner PHOENIX CORNER.
I saw this accident live as many others did and it was unbelievable. And in an interview a while after he fully recovered he said that while he was trying to get out, there was so much fire around that he could not tell which way was up or out. Thank God for the halo.
I remember seeing this live, having breakfast with my family and in my mind he was dead, I legitimately thought I saw an driver die on tv, and it felt like it took forever for him to get out. Since then I’ve rewatched the beginning of the race in edited and it’s a lot quicker then it initially felt. But this still gives me chills and I don’t think that will ever go away.
i bet the guys that fought for the halos were happy they fought so hard
Tbh i was against the halos because i thought they look ugly, but this accident instantly changed my mind
6:31 The team of scientists that designed the suit to be fire resistant: 😐
Jokes aside this was really rough and we are glad that he was indeed lucky to come out alive
I was in the passenger seat of a car whilst watching this race on my phone; i remember putting my phone down, looking at my wife and just muttering "hes dead", I was close to tears. What a miracle he survived.
The horrific accident will stick with you for a long time, as does any other big accident in racing.
What I like about your videos is your down to earth and humane approach. I have been following F1 for a looooong time and to see how you slowly submerge yourself in the F1 world is amazing.
I’ll never forget watching the live, my first time watching him race live and still praying that he would live even though it was highly unlikely he would survive, and then literally seeing this man rise out of the flames. The Phoenix Grosjean. What a fucking boss.
The suits are made to be able to protect you from fire thanks to the suit he managed to survived
As other have said, watching it in real time is something else. Watching the AMG Merc Safety Car come barrelling up at full tilt, and the speed of the flames, and seeing the heat keeping everyone away is something else.
I saw this race live and when I saw the explosion, know what the car had hit, I would have bet every penny I had just witnessed a fatal crash. I've saw Senna and Jules live too, and while Jules was less obvious and Senna you thought maybe, this was certain death in my mind. Just like many, I just sat there ridged and stuck to my seat.
I've been watching F1 for over 40 years, I've seen just about every documentary about F1, but this crash, is for me the hardest to watch. The fire.
I'm watching this, despite knowing the outcome, in tears... Just because of the memory of watching this live at the time. Sheer terror. You went through the wringer here as we all did. It was a miracle you're right x
The moment it happened was incredibly scary, still can’t believe he came out alive. Credit to all the people who put safety first and made F1 cars able to withstand such deadly forces.
If you haven’t seen Senna or the documentary that was with the Rush DVD, I thoroughly recommend them. Sid Watkins’ work has probably saved dozens of drivers over the last 30 years
It’s all good, man. I watched this live. I definitely teared up. I kept thinking about his family watching this.
honestly, watching it live it felt so long! he was lucky that the halo bent the barrier so the protective cell around the driver could slip through in one piece, but also unlucky that it broke the car apart and released the fuel, which shouldn't happen at all, and also that the barrier was kinda in his way to exit the car. so good that they wear several layers of protective gear which gave him the precious time to make an exit himself.
This crash was just crazy id watched formula one for 30yrs and never seen anything like it the fact he walked out just shows how safe these cars really are