French driver Romain Grosjean will sit out next weekend’s Formula One race after escaping a fiery crash in the Bahrain Grand Prix with just burns to his hands, his team Haas said on Monday.
Grosjean walked away from the wreckage after he collided with Daniil Kyvat’s Alpha Tauri on the first lap of Sunday’s race, causing the Haas car to split in half and burst into flames as it smashed through the safety barriers.
Haas said treatment for the burns that 34-year-old Grosjean suffered was “going well” and he was expected to be discharged from hospital on Tuesday.
Brazilian driver Pietro Fittipaldi – grandson of two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi – will make his Formula One debut in place of Grosjean in the Sakhir Grand Prix, also in Bahrain, next Sunday.
The crash, one of the most serious in Formula One in recent years, has led to praise for the modern safety systems developed by the sport.
