Romain Grosjean hit a bird on the Indianapolis oval.
Romain Grosjean crashed into the bird at breakneck speed. PDO
Romain Grosjean’s guardian angel was on alert again.
In 2020, the Frenchman, who miraculously survived the horrific crash at the Bahrain GP with only minor burns, found himself in a life-threatening situation again when he crashed into a bird at a speed of 370 km/h during practice for the legendary Indy500 race.
Fortunately for Grosjean, the Aeroscreen of the Indycar car arrived, which protects the driver from small pieces. Although the species of the bird remained a mystery, at such speed even a small drop can cause great destruction. For example Felipe Massa was killed in 2009 when his helmet was hit by a spring weighing 700 grams.
Even though the bird’s earthly life ended with a collision with a formula car, Grosjean also had the unpleasant experience of being hit. After returning to the pit, the formula star had to resort to a cleaning agent and a rag in order to get the blood and other leftovers from the bird off the helmet. At the same time, the garage’s mechanics were cleaning the car’s cabin.
– Why do you kill birds? I thought you were a nice person, an Indycar reporter who happened to be there Marshall Pruett asked Grosjean.
– Why did the bird fly on the track? That is the question here, Grosjean answered.
Now Grosjean was saved by Aeroscreen, but Grosjean, who drove 179 GPs in the F1 series, has the F1 series security solution, Halo, to thank for his life. It prevented a gruesome death when a Frenchman’s car crashed into a metal guardrail in a violent accident.
Grosjean’s spirit was still weak even after the car had stopped, because the torn gas tank was bursting into horrible flames. Grosjean lay in the sea of fire for more than 20 seconds before he managed to save himself at almost the last possible moment.
Grosjean’s car got wedged between a metal guardrail and exploded into a sea of fire in Bahrain 2020. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
