Romain Grosjean walked away from F1’s scariest crash in decades(arstechnica.com)
arstechnica.com
Romain Grosjean walked away from F1’s scariest crash in decades
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/11/how-romain-grosjean-walked-away-from-f1s-scariest-crash-in-decades/
49 comments
I also saw the race live and like you I was truly horrified. At first the commentators said “It’s a Haas!” and for some reason I assumed it was MAG for a moment. My first thought was: “He’s dead.”
I never realized that there is a medical car trailing the field on the first lap of every race. Just moments after the crash the med car driver and doctor hopped out and began extinguishing the flames and were able to help Grosjean get over the rail that he had split open.
I’m amazed that he was able to get out and walk away from that. When you watch the footage it seems like he is in the flaming inferno forever!
There are couple of criticisms that has been floating around that I don’t entirely disagree with: If the guard rail hadn’t failed the car probably wouldn’t have split in half and caught fire like that. Though to be fair, who’s to say what could have happened with an almost frontal impact at that speed, regardless of what he had crashed into.
The other one is more of an observation than an actual criticism: If he had been knocked unconscious he wouldn’t have had a chance. Though there were multiple people with fire extinguishers there’s no way they could have put the fire out fast enough to drag him out of the car. Which again feeds into the whole ‘the guard rail shouldn’t have failed, and if it hadn’t the car wouldn’t have caught fire’ deal.
All that said though, the level of safety built into these cars is absolutely amazing: The halo, the survival cell and things like that were put to the ultimate test and really saved the day alongside the brave first responders.
I never realized that there is a medical car trailing the field on the first lap of every race. Just moments after the crash the med car driver and doctor hopped out and began extinguishing the flames and were able to help Grosjean get over the rail that he had split open.
I’m amazed that he was able to get out and walk away from that. When you watch the footage it seems like he is in the flaming inferno forever!
There are couple of criticisms that has been floating around that I don’t entirely disagree with: If the guard rail hadn’t failed the car probably wouldn’t have split in half and caught fire like that. Though to be fair, who’s to say what could have happened with an almost frontal impact at that speed, regardless of what he had crashed into.
The other one is more of an observation than an actual criticism: If he had been knocked unconscious he wouldn’t have had a chance. Though there were multiple people with fire extinguishers there’s no way they could have put the fire out fast enough to drag him out of the car. Which again feeds into the whole ‘the guard rail shouldn’t have failed, and if it hadn’t the car wouldn’t have caught fire’ deal.
All that said though, the level of safety built into these cars is absolutely amazing: The halo, the survival cell and things like that were put to the ultimate test and really saved the day alongside the brave first responders.
I believe the cars are intended to split in half to dissipate some energy in the event of a crash.
There are only a few bolts holding the back end onto the safety cell. It's designed to detach in a really big crash so that it doesn't impact on the safety cell if possible.
As far as I understand, yes, the car is designed to split under extreme circumstances. But two things to add to that: If the barrier hadn’t failed it might not have happened. And regardless, the ‘split’ is not supposed to cause a fire. The split happens right by the fuel tank and thus there were lots of safety systems that were meant to prevent a fire that didn’t do enough under these ‘extra’ extreme circumstances.
The nomex suits they all wear only are designed for 20seconds in fire. (The gloves and shoes/socks are only 10secs hence his burns there).
He was out of the car within 18seconds.
I highly doubt if he had been stuck in or knocked out they would have been put the fire out in less than a few seconds more. They only had one person with the right fire extinguishers there at the time. The rest all add ones for smaller fires.
I don't know how long it took them to put it out, but all the drivers could still see the fire driving back to the pits so probably a minute or so.
In short of the many things that save Romain sunday, being able to get himself out was probably the key one.
He was out of the car within 18seconds.
I highly doubt if he had been stuck in or knocked out they would have been put the fire out in less than a few seconds more. They only had one person with the right fire extinguishers there at the time. The rest all add ones for smaller fires.
I don't know how long it took them to put it out, but all the drivers could still see the fire driving back to the pits so probably a minute or so.
In short of the many things that save Romain sunday, being able to get himself out was probably the key one.
Yeah, it’s a fair point. The idea of those armco barriers is that they act as energy absorbers, crumpling to lessen the shock. But in this case, they basically tore the car in half. Martin Brundle made the point during the commentary that a concrete barrier (which they put up to replace the armco) would allow the car to skid along it. You could also imagine safer energy absorbers, like barrels of water or tyre stacks.
Clearly, this crash needs to be studied to see if any new safety regulations are needed for those kinds of service roads that jut out next to high speed straights. I have every confidence in the FIA to do that (both the halo and the VSC resulted from studying Jules Bianchi’s fatal crash). As far as safety goes, the FIA is (IMHO) one of the most responsible and trustworthy sporting organizations in the world.
Clearly, this crash needs to be studied to see if any new safety regulations are needed for those kinds of service roads that jut out next to high speed straights. I have every confidence in the FIA to do that (both the halo and the VSC resulted from studying Jules Bianchi’s fatal crash). As far as safety goes, the FIA is (IMHO) one of the most responsible and trustworthy sporting organizations in the world.
Yes, a thousand times this. I've been following the sport for a little more than 2 decades, I was a kid when Ratzenberger and Senna died (and he was a hero for my dad and for my home country).
Watching this live I couldn't believe it, I audibly gasped when I saw a fireball in F1 in 2020.
More impressive is how the thorough enactment of safety rules really played all out in Romain's accident like you mentioned. It's easy to get complacent after a while without major accidents, in most industries, it was really heartwarming seeing how the preparation of years paid off to save a life.
Watching this live I couldn't believe it, I audibly gasped when I saw a fireball in F1 in 2020.
More impressive is how the thorough enactment of safety rules really played all out in Romain's accident like you mentioned. It's easy to get complacent after a while without major accidents, in most industries, it was really heartwarming seeing how the preparation of years paid off to save a life.
Another important safety measure is the HANS (Head And Neck Safety) device. Without it, that sudden deceleration (someone estimated a peak of 53[g]) could have resulted in a fatal injury.
These guys are almost certainly used to operating for extended periods on high adrenalin doses. That helps keep you focused on your task even when you see something like this happening. The letdown comes after the race is up.
It should be said that the race was red-flagged (i.e. stopped) for nearly an hour while they rebuilt the barriers, so there was a lot of downtime there.
Also: on the first lap of the restart, another driver (Lance Stroll for Racing Point) flipped his car after a collision. He was fine (F1 cars are designed to be able to handle being flipped upside down), but man, this race seriously frayed your nerves.
Also: on the first lap of the restart, another driver (Lance Stroll for Racing Point) flipped his car after a collision. He was fine (F1 cars are designed to be able to handle being flipped upside down), but man, this race seriously frayed your nerves.
Robert Kubica's crash also brought significant improvements in F1 cars safety.
My Dad is a big F1 fan and we were discussing yesterday. While the halo[0] was once a controversial requirement (affected visibility), it's almost certainly what saved Romain's life[1].
[0] - https://youtu.be/3-3gIAkYEX8 [1] - https://youtu.be/zM-ixqBQNcQ
[0] - https://youtu.be/3-3gIAkYEX8 [1] - https://youtu.be/zM-ixqBQNcQ
The amazing thing is that the halo’s utility was still argued about and debated after the 2018 crash in Belgium between Alonso and Leclerc.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wMymLt7NOTg
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wMymLt7NOTg
great video on the Halo!
> After hitting the guardrail at about 137mph (220km/h), Grosjean's car ripped in half and then burst into flames—something that hasn't happened for over 30 years. To make matters worse, the front half penetrated between the guardrails that lined this section of track. As crashes go, this one was more reminiscent of the bad-old days of F1, the kind that claimed the lives of drivers like Roger Williamson or Francois Cevert.
This.....just sounds so horrific and a nightmare scenario for the driver. At that speed I wonder how much of a sense a driver has of going through this experience vs it's over in an instant. Overall, it's a testament to engineering, that a person can walk away alive from a crash like this.
This.....just sounds so horrific and a nightmare scenario for the driver. At that speed I wonder how much of a sense a driver has of going through this experience vs it's over in an instant. Overall, it's a testament to engineering, that a person can walk away alive from a crash like this.
I've spun off the track going about 50mph before and my dad's spun at about 120mph. We both agree that there's a split second where you realize something's gone wrong but after that your training kicks in and you take your hands off the wheel/push in the brake/clutch. The spin itself doesn't exactly happen instantaneously, but it feels like it's over pretty quick. Once the car stops it can take a second or two to get your bearings, figure out which way the car is facing, etc.
> Overall, it's a testament to engineering, that a person can walk away alive from a crash like this.
Not just to engineering, but also the training and performance of all the track stewards - first person to put a fire extinguisher on the wreck was 7 (!) seconds after the crash. That's unbelievably fast.
Grosjean survived due to every person and every piece of technology working exactly as they should.
Not just to engineering, but also the training and performance of all the track stewards - first person to put a fire extinguisher on the wreck was 7 (!) seconds after the crash. That's unbelievably fast.
Grosjean survived due to every person and every piece of technology working exactly as they should.
> Grosjean survived due to every person and every piece of technology working exactly as they should.
I think this misses a couple of key points. The only reason his car tore in half and caught fire was because the barrier failed spectacularly. It’s absolutely not supposed to do that. LeClerc had a bigger crash in Monza this year, and it wasn’t nearly as dramatic. So this incident was caused by a piece of safety technology failing catastrophically, with a whole bunch of other safety tech working as intended to save his life.
Also it’s good the marshals and medical crew were there so quickly (as the medical car follows the pack on the first lap). But they basically contributed nothing to Grosjean’s survival. He was completely engulfed in flames for 18 seconds. He survived because his flame protection worked (he got his burns from using his hands to climb over the hot barrier, not from exposure to flames), and because he wasn’t incapacitated by the crash. If he had been knocked unconscious or injured too badly to move, he would have burnt to death in there. The couple of fire extinguishers they had on the car weren’t doing anything to a fire of that size.
I think this misses a couple of key points. The only reason his car tore in half and caught fire was because the barrier failed spectacularly. It’s absolutely not supposed to do that. LeClerc had a bigger crash in Monza this year, and it wasn’t nearly as dramatic. So this incident was caused by a piece of safety technology failing catastrophically, with a whole bunch of other safety tech working as intended to save his life.
Also it’s good the marshals and medical crew were there so quickly (as the medical car follows the pack on the first lap). But they basically contributed nothing to Grosjean’s survival. He was completely engulfed in flames for 18 seconds. He survived because his flame protection worked (he got his burns from using his hands to climb over the hot barrier, not from exposure to flames), and because he wasn’t incapacitated by the crash. If he had been knocked unconscious or injured too badly to move, he would have burnt to death in there. The couple of fire extinguishers they had on the car weren’t doing anything to a fire of that size.
Can you please explain how the barrier failed in a bit more detail?
I'd say it's didn't necessarily fail, it was just a bad design. It consisted of steel posts in the ground, with stamped steel sections running horizontally. Grosjean's car got wedged in between two of the horizontal rails. It actually succeeded in stopping the 150 mph car from flying off into the desert. In comparison, a smooth concrete barrier would cause the car to just slide along it (hopefully).
Well you’d expect the barrier to either be rigid enough to survive the impact (like a concrete barrier would) and have the cars safety features absorb the impact, or to crumple in a way that absorbs the impact. To me it seems like the Armco is just a bad barrier for that part of the track, because when he hit it, his car penetrated between the horizontal parts of the barrier, but the chassis was torn in half when it encountered resistance from the upright support beam (which really should have given way as well).
I don’t know if this Armco wasn’t up to spec, but the way this barrier performed, it made the crash as bad is it could possibly have been. Compare this crash to LeClerc binning it at a similar speed/angle into the tire barrier at Monza.
https://youtu.be/K0WzAatudAo
It seems that literally any other sort of barrier would have performed better here, and since this is a fast part of the track, you’d typically expect this to be something that had already been considered.
I don’t know if this Armco wasn’t up to spec, but the way this barrier performed, it made the crash as bad is it could possibly have been. Compare this crash to LeClerc binning it at a similar speed/angle into the tire barrier at Monza.
https://youtu.be/K0WzAatudAo
It seems that literally any other sort of barrier would have performed better here, and since this is a fast part of the track, you’d typically expect this to be something that had already been considered.
I don’t think there was anything defective with the Armco barrier. It just turned out to be the wrong thing for that part of the track.
It seems to me that the concrete barrier they erected after cutting out the broken section wouldn’t be a great thing to drive into at 140mph, either. I’m curious to see if they have tires in place there next weekend.
Incidentally, I’m pretty sure areas where the Armco rail can’t be replaced with something safer and more modern due to space constraints are the reason some classic tracks are not rated by the FIA as safe for F1. I think that’s part of the problem with Watkins Glen.
It seems to me that the concrete barrier they erected after cutting out the broken section wouldn’t be a great thing to drive into at 140mph, either. I’m curious to see if they have tires in place there next weekend.
Incidentally, I’m pretty sure areas where the Armco rail can’t be replaced with something safer and more modern due to space constraints are the reason some classic tracks are not rated by the FIA as safe for F1. I think that’s part of the problem with Watkins Glen.
I agree, I think tires or barrels would be a much better choice for that barrier. But I think the concrete is an improvement, because at that angle you’d expect it to deflect at least some of the force, but it’s pretty borderline.
> Incidentally, I’m pretty sure areas where the Armco rail can’t be replaced with something safer and more modern due to space constraints are the reason some classic tracks are not rated by the FIA as safe for F1.
A lot of classic tracks wouldn’t get grade 1 status if they were built today, some of them are just kept on the calendar because they’re too classic to remove. Monaco and Spa are two examples. I don’t think they’d drop Spa, and they’re certainly not going to drop Monaco, but those circuits are not up to modern safety standards.
> Incidentally, I’m pretty sure areas where the Armco rail can’t be replaced with something safer and more modern due to space constraints are the reason some classic tracks are not rated by the FIA as safe for F1.
A lot of classic tracks wouldn’t get grade 1 status if they were built today, some of them are just kept on the calendar because they’re too classic to remove. Monaco and Spa are two examples. I don’t think they’d drop Spa, and they’re certainly not going to drop Monaco, but those circuits are not up to modern safety standards.
I feel like keeping a classic, great track like Spa (and a classic, mediocre track like Monaco) in spite of the danger is a valid decision for the sport. I wish there was another F1 race on the calendar for North America, and as long as it wasn’t dangerous for the spectators, there’d be something to be said for using one of the old tracks.
I completely agree. This year has shown how good some of these classic circuits still are. Especially compared to some of the terrible modern circuits like Sochi or Yas Marina. I’m concerned that they’ll continue to drop old circuits in favour of new terrible ones that have some big financial backing. I could happily never watch another Abu Dhabi GP again, but I’d be very sad if they went ahead with the plans to drop Interlagos for the new tilkedrome they were planning to build.
The modern tracks (I guess they're mostly Tilke tracks?) vary in quality more than they should, but I am not opposed to building new tracks on principle. You named two boring, bad ones, but Circuit of the Americas is as good as anyone had any right to expect, given how high-profile and political the effort was. Marina Bay is so objectively awful that it has a certain charm. Baku is the greatest street circuit to come along in a long time (and I'm willing to argue about it :) ).
Some of the classic American tracks would bring unique challenges to F1, and that would be interesting to see. I have to admit that some of my thinking in this area is a little sadistic... it would be entertaining to see F1 teams try to survive driving at Sebring. The Indycar teams practice there, and their cars can barely do it.
In any case, another race in NA on the first half of the calendar, around the time of Montreal, would make a lot of sense. Last year the teams literally shipped everything from France to Quebec and, immediately after the race, shipped everything back from Quebec to France. Driving south a few hours to race in New York would make sense.
Some of the classic American tracks would bring unique challenges to F1, and that would be interesting to see. I have to admit that some of my thinking in this area is a little sadistic... it would be entertaining to see F1 teams try to survive driving at Sebring. The Indycar teams practice there, and their cars can barely do it.
In any case, another race in NA on the first half of the calendar, around the time of Montreal, would make a lot of sense. Last year the teams literally shipped everything from France to Quebec and, immediately after the race, shipped everything back from Quebec to France. Driving south a few hours to race in New York would make sense.
The problem is that when somebody comes along with huge amounts of money and some terrible ideas, F1 can't help but give them a slot on the calendar. Tilke gets a bad rap for this, but tbh he's mostly not to blame (he has made some incredible circuits, as you mentioned). Sochi, Yas and Hanoi are all terrible though (thankfully we never will get a race in Hanoi).
I'm against the idea because there are so many good tracks to host races at, and I don't trust them to build new ones that are any good. They've proven that they're more than happy to put on boring races for anybody who has enough money. The fact that Abu Dhabi is the last race on the calendar, and that they're planning to put Saudi Arabia right behind it guarantees that having an exciting title-deciding season end is just logistically impossible now. I mean, is there a single person in the world who thinks that KSA is going to have a decent circuit?
I'm against the idea because there are so many good tracks to host races at, and I don't trust them to build new ones that are any good. They've proven that they're more than happy to put on boring races for anybody who has enough money. The fact that Abu Dhabi is the last race on the calendar, and that they're planning to put Saudi Arabia right behind it guarantees that having an exciting title-deciding season end is just logistically impossible now. I mean, is there a single person in the world who thinks that KSA is going to have a decent circuit?
>Baku is the greatest street circuit to come along in a long time
Why?
Why?
I think the formula is just absurdly long. fast straights combined with extremely tight and narrow turns - so narrow that they are honestly pretty borderline for F1. The race there ends up having an awful lot of passing and eventfulness, which doesn’t sound like much unless you look at pretty much all the other current F1 street courses.
Here is a video that covers that "good" barriers supposed to do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkpvPWB3jMk .
They supposed to slow down (gracefully, not 50G we saw) and contain the car. Different corners (slow/fast) use different designs. Barrier technically failed at both tasks. You can argue that ripping the car in half was containing, but that wasn't supposed to happen.
They supposed to slow down (gracefully, not 50G we saw) and contain the car. Different corners (slow/fast) use different designs. Barrier technically failed at both tasks. You can argue that ripping the car in half was containing, but that wasn't supposed to happen.
It caught his nose between one of the ribbons of rail. That caused his car to pierce the barrier instead of having its energy dissipated.
Also there is a theory that the pole holding up the rails didnt shear off at all and thats why the car got snapped in half.
Also there is a theory that the pole holding up the rails didnt shear off at all and thats why the car got snapped in half.
> Not just to engineering, but also the training and performance of all the track stewards - first person to put a fire extinguisher on the wreck was 7 (!) seconds after the crash. That's unbelievably fast.
The crash was at an access road for one, but the bigger part of being there so fast is thanks in part to the medical car that stages on the track and starts with the cars, but behind the field. They follow the racers around for the first lap so that they’re almost immediately at the scene of any crash.
The crash was at an access road for one, but the bigger part of being there so fast is thanks in part to the medical car that stages on the track and starts with the cars, but behind the field. They follow the racers around for the first lap so that they’re almost immediately at the scene of any crash.
I have crashed with my cart pretty bad. At some point I realized that I will go off track and looked where it will be going. I remember looking for a way out but then I saw the wall and took my hands off the wheel right before impact. It was over pretty quickly and most what I did was just instincts from driving. Only after the crash I put everything together consciously. I would imagine the same for Grosjean. It’s all automated responses.
Why is taking your hands of the wheel such a good thing to do in a situation like this? Is it because the spin of the vehicle would be over with sooner if you let it have its way?
It's because the driving wheel jerk from the front wheels being forced to turn will break your thumbs and/or other fingers.
You instinctively take your hands off the wheel if you have raced karts enough to get into a crash where you hurt your thumbs, that or you've trained to do it.
I even do it on racing sims some times, completely out of instinct.
You instinctively take your hands off the wheel if you have raced karts enough to get into a crash where you hurt your thumbs, that or you've trained to do it.
I even do it on racing sims some times, completely out of instinct.
Everyone’s talking about go karts (and older cars) but this is not the problem with modern drive by wire cars (in an emergency my car will shutdown the electronic steering module which will only give me like 10 degrees of steering, lock-to-lock). The real issue is with the airbag destroying your hands/wrists and chemical burns that come along with it.
it's to prevent injuries to your thumbs/wrists.
It kinda seems like Romain used all technology available to save his live.
To be able to hit guardrail at 220km/h which dissipated the energy without killing the driver of deceleration, have the car ripped apart on purpose, have the flimsy compartment keep its integrity without anything penetrating the driver, have fuel contained and only a little bit of it spill, have the suit save him from almost all of burns.
To be able to hit guardrail at 220km/h which dissipated the energy without killing the driver of deceleration, have the car ripped apart on purpose, have the flimsy compartment keep its integrity without anything penetrating the driver, have fuel contained and only a little bit of it spill, have the suit save him from almost all of burns.
I found the discussion of how the new halo device in F1 saved his life to be very interesting.
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/30416593/romain-grosjean-...
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/k3sflu/i_did_a_re...
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/30416593/romain-grosjean-...
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/k3sflu/i_did_a_re...
Crash analysis.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAeQHfwtr5s
The scene at 1:18 is horrifying! https://youtu.be/ZQ7_En2xEm4?t=78 You see the driver engulfed in flames while the track staff try to extinguish the fire. Such an amazing story that the driver walked away relatively unharmed. Great work by the safety crew.
Watching him get out of the car after the fireball was a huge relief! Great to see all the safety tech in use at F1 working and delivering such a great result (the Halo and firesuit in particular here). The driver will likely be discharged from the hospital in the next 1-2 days. Very amazing! Best wishes of recovery to Romain!
Very sad that this is likely his last race in F1 though. He gets a lot of flack for crashing all the time, and complaining on the radio, but he seems like one of the nicest guys in the sport. The palms of his hands were burnt and there were reports he had cracked ribs, so it doesn’t seem like he’ll be back in the car for the last two races.
Hard to imagine climbing out of this: https://i.redd.it/p3spidsev6261.png
less than 30 seconds after a 130mph/55G crash through a metal barrier and sitting inside a fireball
less than 30 seconds after a 130mph/55G crash through a metal barrier and sitting inside a fireball
There's something about the night time lighting quality of the embedded video that's absolutely ridiculous to me.
It almost feels like a video game.
It almost feels like a video game.
[deleted]
Grosjean has a bit of a reputation for binning it on Sunday, but glad to see that he is ok. Scary crash.
Maybe it's worth mentioning Grosjean's history here.
As a rookie he was widely faulted for being faulty judgment, causing frequent crashes with other drivers when a more experienced driver wouldn't have stuck their nose in. It was clear how hard he was trying to do the right thing, yet the harder he tried, the worse the problem seemed to get, and there was talk about dropping him from the team.
Much to his credit, he recognized that he was unable to solve the problem on his own. Drivers tend to have big egos, beating their chests and blaming other people and their equipment. But Grosjean took responsibility, and in interviews you could see how it was breaking his heart to realize how this problem was likely to cost him his career. So he swallowed his pride and started to work with a sports psychologist, who helped him gain better control of his actions. The turn-around in his on-track behavior was quickly evident, and his willingness to take responsibility and look outside for help made him a much better driver.
As a rookie he was widely faulted for being faulty judgment, causing frequent crashes with other drivers when a more experienced driver wouldn't have stuck their nose in. It was clear how hard he was trying to do the right thing, yet the harder he tried, the worse the problem seemed to get, and there was talk about dropping him from the team.
Much to his credit, he recognized that he was unable to solve the problem on his own. Drivers tend to have big egos, beating their chests and blaming other people and their equipment. But Grosjean took responsibility, and in interviews you could see how it was breaking his heart to realize how this problem was likely to cost him his career. So he swallowed his pride and started to work with a sports psychologist, who helped him gain better control of his actions. The turn-around in his on-track behavior was quickly evident, and his willingness to take responsibility and look outside for help made him a much better driver.
Seeing the replays afterwards, it reminded me of the footage of Niki Lauda's crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix. He was caught in a fiery inferno for something like 40-50 seconds, which severely damaged his lungs and face and disfigured him for life. Six weeks later, with bandages still covering his head, he was back on track, racing again. He would go on to win several championships. Luckily, it seems like Romain got away with much lighter wounds.
I was thinking to myself during the race about the 19 other drives, thinking "how do you go sit in a car and race for 90 minutes after seeing that happen?", but these guys are made of sterner stuff than me.
Thank god for the halo, and the hardened monocoque (which basically stayed intact after a 200 kph crash!), and the improved firesuits, and the medical car following at the start, and the marshals at the side of the track with fire extinguishers, and a thousand other small safety measures. Romain Grosjean is alive today because of decades of tireless work making the sport safer. Thank god for Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Sid Watkins, Charlie Whiting and everyone else who has worked tirelessly to this end.