Guenther Steiner has praised the marshals and medical staff that attended to Romain Grosjean immediately after his horror first lap crash in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Grosjean speared into the barriers just after the exit of turn three after contact with Daniil Kvyat, with the car breaking in half and catching alight. The Frenchman’s car was lodged in the barrier, but despite the flames around him, he was able to gingerly extract himself from the VF-20.
Steiner, the Team Principal of the Haas F1 Team, praised those who were able to quickly extinguish the flames and pull the Frenchman further away from harm. He was immediately attended by Dr. Ian Roberts with Alan van der Merwe also playing a key part in the procedure as he used a fire extinguisher towards Grosjean.
He has subsequently been transferred to hospital for further checks, with Grosjean complaining of burns to his hands and ankles and possible broken ribs.
“He’s shaken and is going through all the checks that you need to do after an impact like this,” said Steiner to reporters in Bahrain. “He’s conscious, he’s fine, but I didn’t have any direct contact with him, just with the people there. He seems to be OK.
“I want to thank the rescue crews who were there very quick. I didn’t see who it was yet, but the marshals and the FIA people, they did a great job. It was scary, it is scary what happened.”
“When you see what is going on out there, if you see the barrier, where it is torn down, it is unbelievable. I think we were lucky by being unlucky. I prefer that luck to any racing luck. He seems to doing good. Hopefully there is nothing coming, but he got away with it I think.”
