Some of the new elements introduced for 2026 are developments for which the crash is indicated. Romain Grosjean at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix Which Hollywood had not even dreamed of.
On the first lap, Grosjean made contact with Daniel Cavatt’s Alfa Tori, which drove his Haas into a barrier at high speed, exploding on impact as the car tore between the metal bars of the barriers that every Formula 1 was attached to a large part of the circuit. .
It was the type of crash the sport had not seen in decades, and one that had often led to fatalities in the past.
Never has a gladiatorial look been smaller than Grosjean rising from a giant ball of flames after squeezing between charred and twisted steel and rushing towards an ambulance to be received by disbelieving marshals and medical personnel.
Tombazis says “the engine was ripped from the chassis,” which is fine as such, but when disassembling it he tore the chassis apart, and that exposed the fuel tank, so the fuel came out and This created a ball of fire.
“We were very fortunate that the driver was conscious and able to get out.”
Tombazis then explained how the post-accident analysis process works.
“Every car has an electronic box that logs a lot of signals,” he says.
“It logs all the G-(force) loads on the car, so it’s possible to calculate the speed of the car as it went out of control and how quickly it decelerated and how hard it hit the barrier. Mari, and how it came to rest.
“That data is analyzed. In addition, the remains of the car, the chassis, are analyzed.
“Some of the later analysis we did, we worked out how the engine would come out of the chassis and applied more regulation to make sure that when the engine explodes, the points of failure are the engine. There are bolts that attach to the chassis, not the chassis itself.
“So now if things go as planned under similar circumstances, the engine might come apart, but the chassis is intact and so is the fuel tank. So that’s one consequence of this accident.”
Grosjean, who now races for Lamborghini in the United States, credits the ‘halo’ head protection device with saving his life, as the structure around the cockpit created enough space for the Frenchman to block his escape. I helped.
“Without him, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you today,” Grosjean said after the accident.
There are many clear examples where serious injury has been avoided thanks to Halo and other innovations throughout the game.
F1’s current fastest man – McLaren’s Lando Norris – agrees, highlighting the crash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
“It can hold several double-decker buses without breaking,” he says. “Given the speed at which we operate, it can turn a lot of things around.
“We saw with Lewis and Max, where Max’s car ended up on top of Lewis. If (the halo) wasn’t there, it would have been on Lewis’ head – you’d never know what it would have been if we didn’t have the halo. What would the consequences be?”
