What we did not expect was that his teammate, Romain Grosjean, would end up suffering a horrific accident during the Bahrain GP in which his car tore in half and burst into fuel-fed flames. Grosjean was engulfed in the fire for 28 seconds, during which the Frenchman said that he “saw death coming” as he was trying to escape the wrecked car.
After Grosjean was airlifted to the hospital, it was clear that he would have to miss the Sakhir Grand Prix, which was also held at the Bahrain International Circuit. In his place, Haas gave young Pietro Fittipaldi an opportunity to shine. Until yesterday, there was a chance that Grosjean would return for the season finale at Abu Dhabi, but given the news that he could require a skin graft on his left hand, that just wasn’t meant to be.
Speaking in French, Grosjean said, “I didn’t expect to end my F1 career like this, but I think it’s for the best.” The question came down him being able to use all of his fingers again, and Grosjean wanted to err on the side of safety.
If you saw the Sakhir Grand Prix, you know exactly what happened. It was a thrilling race, to say the least. Young George Russell did a perfect job driving Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, only to be sabotaged by the Mercedes team twice. He was still faster than Bottas, only to end with a ninth place finish. Once again, it just wasn’t his fault.
While what Pérez did was remarkable, let’s not forget how at age 22, George Russell was as quick in Hamilton’s car as Lewis Hamilton himself would have been. Mercedes blames this weekend’s tire snafu on radio communication errors, and with that in mind, all we can do is salute Russell for being so mature and calm about the whole situation.
