“Everyone was in shock,” Gary Gannon reveals ‘shocking’ details from the Romain Grosjean’s crash in 2020


“Everyone was in shock,” Gary Gannon reveals ‘shocking’ details from the Romain Grosjean’s crash in 2020

Romain Grosjean during Bahrain Grand Prix Crash

Gary Gannon, Kevin Magnussen’s race engineer, and former Romain Grosjean’s race engineer talked about the horrific crash on the night circuit of Bahrain involving Romain and Dany Kyvat. Romain was on the run of his last Haas season and probably his last F1 season, which later turned about to be true, went into Bahrain the second last race of the season. 

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The Haas driver started P19 and was on a run in midfield after the lights went out, he clashed with the Alpha Tauri leading the Haas into the was breaking the car into two halves and was later on fire with the driver still inside the car. The Haas’ garage got numb not knowing if the driver was dead or alive. Thanks to the medical care teams and the track marshals the driver was eventually saved marking the driver’s last F1 race. 

Gary Gannon explained the situation in the garage and also the process that went through everyone’s minds during the silent moments. 

“First you feel shocked but then you need to do what you need to do, First you need to communicate with the driver, make sure they’re okay. If they are okay, get them to do this, switch positions correctly, because if we leave the car unsafe then the marshals can’t work on it.” Gary explained.

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Gary concluded by explaining the numbness around the garage but with a sensible mind to work ahead saved the driver “So if the driver is capable, he should switch off the car properly to de-power the electronic system. First you just focus on those operational things. We’re prepared, we know exactly what we need to do in those moments and that overcomes the fact that you’re shocked by what you’ve just seen. So you revert to your training, basically.” 

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What is Romain Grosjean currently doing?

Romain Grosjean
Romain Grosjean

Grosjean had a fantastic F1 career, though he never took the top spot of the podium he finished 10 times on the other two sides, with 391 career points, he left the sport with memories he will forever hope to cherish.

Romain after the crash in 2020 left Formula 1 forever with bruises on his hands. He later went on to race in Indy Car 500 and is currently still racing there. He is racing for Andretti Autosport in the 2022 IndyCar season.   He has no wins to his name but has 4 podiums and 1 pole in the sport. He currently stands 12th at the table with 174 points.

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