‘I’ll forever be grateful’ – Grosjean reunited with helmet from 2020 Bahrain GP crash

Romain Grosjean has revealed that he was recently reunited with the helmet that protected him during his terrifying accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, explaining how it partly came from his children who “really wanted to understand” what happened.

Grosjean made what turned out to be his final F1 start at the Sakhir event when he dramatically crashed through the barriers on the opening lap of the race, an incident that engulfed his Haas car in flames and left him with burns to both hands.

While he missed the final round of the 2020 campaign, Grosjean gradually recovered and returned to competitive action the following year when he debuted in IndyCar – the Frenchman going on to forge a second career in the United States.

In a social media post, Grosjean – who also made an emotional F1 test comeback with Haas last year – shared a couple of photographs of the charred Bahrain helmet in his hands, as well as a message explaining why the reunion happened.

“Five years after November 29 2020, I got reunited with my race helmet,” wrote the 39-year-old. “I didn’t know if I was ready to see it, but my kids really wanted to understand how I got so well protected in the fire and what did happen that night.

“I’ll forever be grateful to [helmet supplier] Bell Racing and [kit supplier] Alpinestars for protecting me so well in that moment.”

He signed off: “Life goes and we forget [things], but that reminds me how much we should make the most of our lives every day.”