Race officials and drivers praised the modern safety systems developed for Formula One on Sunday after Romain Grosjean survived a high-speed crash and fireball blaze on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Safety and official medical car driver Alan van der Merwe was on the scene within seconds as he followed the field after the start of the race and along with chief medical officer Dr Ian Roberts they battled the blaze to save Grosjean’s life.

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“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” said 1996 world champion Damon Hill, who was Ayrton Senna’s teammate at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when the Brazilian was killed.

Van der Merwe said: “It was a big surprise for us as well, we’ve never seen that much fire in 12 years.

SOURCE: GULFINSIDER