by Alex Johnston, Topher Smith & Linus O’Howell
In F1 racing history, there’s not much there’s not been seen on or off track to provide drama and talking points. However, now and then, something happens that can make time stand still or have you sit and watch in shock, horror or excitement. Alex, Topher and Linus have each picked a moment like that for this piece.
Alex - Bahrain Grand Prix, 2020
“He’s dead, there’s no way he’s survived that”. As flames ripped through Romain Grosjean’s Haas car in Bahrain and the helicopter panned over the ‘in half’ car, the above words are the only thing that went through my mind.
📸 A nasty fireball emerges as Grosjean spears off into the barrier.
The Frenchman had made a fairly inoccuous contact with Danill Kvyat as the cars shuffled through the first couple of corners, causing him to skew off into - and in fact through the Armco barrier on the outside of the track, splitting the car and releasing the fuel engulf his VF-20 car in flames - fans, drivers, crew member and everyone else worldwide immediately feared the worst as time almost seemed to stand still waiting for news on Grosjean.
📸 Flames take over the Haas car.
To shock, awe and relief, Grosjean appeared through the flames and miraculously managed to walk from his car to the waiting ambulance on track.
📸 Grosjean appears through the flames.
It was revealed post race to be a crash measured at 67G, and left Grosjean with burns to his hands and ankles - a somewhat lucky escape thanks to the safety measures F1 has taken to ensure drivers can race safely, not least with the inclusion of the halo device to which Grosjean can assuredly say saved his life in Bahrain.
📸 The remnants of Grosjean’s car, split in half and detached from the fuel tank, two safety features than undoubtedly saved the French-Swiss driver’s life.
📸 Grosjean’s burns as he recovered.
Topher - British Grand Prix, 2003
Track invaders are relatively rare in Formula 1, but it does happen every so often. A disgruntled former Mercedes employee at the 2000 German Grand Prix, a fan "wanting to have a go" at the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix, they have their reasons for doing so.
📸 Germany, Singapore and China(above) have seen invaders to the track previously.
While any reason to invade a live race track and put lives at risk is inexcusable, the exploits of Neil Horan come to mind not just for his invading of the 2003 British Grand Prix, but the fact he has sinced gained a reputation for causing further disruption at other events.
Running down the Hangar Straight holding a placard with a religious message on it, onlookers witnessed the terrifying sight of the Irish priest nearly being knocked skyward by the oncoming F1 cars, with one brave marshal showing off his rugby skills to get Horan off the circuit.
📸 Horan runs toward cars on the Hangar straight.
The very next year, a track invader knocked over the leader of the marathon at the Summer Olympics in Athens, with viewers adjusting their glasses and thinking “he looks familiar…”
To make his life story even more bizarre, in 2009 Horan appeared on Britain's Got Talent performing a traditional Irish jig, with the judges putting him through to the second round! However, the producers soon realised who he was and supposedly kicked him off the show. Regardless of his reasons, running onto a live track is crazy enough to get you injured or much worse.
Linus - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 2021
Whilst there’s been a lot of crazy moments in my 10 years of watching this brilliant sport, Abu Dhabi 2021 will always be the most iconic for both good and bad reasons! I mean, the entire 2021 Season was insane enough, with a proper Championship battle that saw Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen enter the final Race of the season at the Yas Marina Circuit level on points!
📸 Verstappen and Hamilton entertained in 2021 with a ding dong title battle stretching the whole season.
There was already a bit of controversy on the opening lap as Hamilton went off the track at the tricky Turn 6/7 chicane to stay ahead of Verstappen, but the FIA decided against handing any penalties out. Funnily enough, minus Sergio Perez’s great teamwork, this was actually a really boring race, but that all changed when Nicholas Latifi’s crash brought out the Safety Car with just a few laps to go!
📸 Nicholas Latifi’s late crash was the catalyst to a wild final lap in Abu Dhabi.
For a while, it looked like the season was going to end under the Safety Car, but Race Director Michael Masi made the decision to bring the SC in on the penultimate lap whilst also only allowing the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake! This was definitely against the rules, and therefore shouldn’t have really happened!
However, what it did give us was a dramatic final lap which saw Max send one on Lewis into Turn 5 to secure his maiden World Drivers’ Championship! This will forever be insane for me, especially as a Verstappen fan, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was right, and I definitely felt/feel sorry for Hamilton!
📸 Verstappen’s send on Hamilton set him up to take his first F1 World Drivers Championship title.
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Sky Sports, BBC Sport, Romain Grosjean, TNT Sports.
Comments