Romain Grosjean credited the halo protection bar with saving his life in a fiery crash that ripped his car in two on the opening lap of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Frenchman's Haas speared through the barriers after careering off the track at high speed, with the force of the impact splitting the car in half and setting it aflame.
Grosjean, who clambered out and limped away from the crash, miraculously escaped with only burns to his hands and was being treated overnight at a nearby hospital.
"Hello everyone, just wanted to say I am okay, well sort of OK," the 34-year-old, his hand swaddled in bandages but his face smiling, said from his hospital bed in a video posted to his social media.
"I wasn’t for the halo some years ago but I think it’s the greatest thing that we brought to Formula One and without it I wouldn’t be able to speak to you today."
Formula One introduced the halo, a three-point titanium structure above the front of the cockpit designed to protect drivers' heads from flying debris, in 2018 and it initially attracted controversy.
Grosjean, who is out of contract and likely to leave Formula One at the end of the year, was one of those who was against it at the time, terming the day its introduction was announced a "sad day" for the sport.
On Sunday, his gratitude for its existence was echoed by others in the sport.
"There's absolutely no doubt the halo was the factor that saved the day and saved Romain," Formula One's managing director for motorsport Ross Brawn said.
"There was quite a lot of controversy at the time about introducing it and I don't think anyone now can doubt the validity of that. It was a life-saver today.
"Undoubtedly we've got to do a very deep analysis of all the events that occurred because there were a number of things that shouldn't have happened," Brawn told Sky Sports television.
"The fire was worrying, the split of the barrier was worrying.
"I think the positives are the safety of the car and that's what got us through today."
Brawn said barriers splitting was a problem from Formula One's far more dangerous past "and normally it resulted in a fatality".
Brawn said the sport had not seen such a fire in many years, although the fuel cells were now built to be 'incredibly strong' and he suspected it was more likely to be due to a ruptured connection.
"It looked a big fire but those cars are carrying 100 kilos of fuel at that stage. I think if 100 kilos had gone up we would have had a massive fire. For me that was a fire of a few kilos of fuel."
Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, said he was 'flabbergasted' by what he had seen and it was a miracle that Grosjean, a father of three, was alive.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, the race winner for Mercedes, was also thankful the halo had worked.
"I'm grateful that the barrier didn't slice his head up or something like that. It could have been so much worse," said the Briton.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner agreed: "Horrendous. An incident like that, I couldn't see a driver coming out of that," he said.
"All credit to the FIA. For a car to pierce a steel barrier like that and for the driver to survive, with the fire and everything else, it's all credit to the job that they're doing. And they're right to keep pushing.
"You're always learning in this business, not just about going faster.
"Romain Grosjean is a very, very fortunate young man tonight."
Hamilton also paid credit to the marshals and medical car team, the first on the scene.
"It is an amazing job the FIA have done. The marshals are the unsung heroes every weekend that we get to go out, those guys are there to protect us and they really are incredible in what they do," he said.
The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 0 Wolves 2 (Jimenez 3', Saiss 6)
Man of the Match Romain Saiss (Wolves)
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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MATCH INFO
Fulham 0
Aston Villa 3 (Grealish 4', Hourihane 15', Mings 48')
Man of the match: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Pickford, Pope.
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Dier, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Maitland-Niles, Mings, Saka, Trippier, Walker.
Midfielders Henderson, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Winks.
Forwards Abraham, Barnes, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish, Ings, Kane, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling.
RESULT
Bayer Leverkusen 2 Bayern Munich 4
Leverkusen: Alario (9'), Wirtz (89')
Bayern: Coman (27'), Goretzka (42'), Gnabry (45'), Lewandowski (66')
Result
UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.
The trip
The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.
The hotel
There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
Results
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions Dh90,000 2,200m
Winner: Mudaarab, Jim Crowley (jockey), Erwan Charpy (trainer).
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap Dh70,000 1,400m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Richard Mullen, Hassan Al Hammadi.
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Salima Al Reef, Jesus Rosales, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige Dh100,000 1,600m
Winner: Bainoona, Ricardo Iacopini, Eric Lemartinel.
7pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Ladies World Championship (PA) Prestige Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: Assyad, Victoria Larsen, Eric Lemartinel.
8pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Group 1 Dh5,000,000 1,600m
Winner: Mashhur Al Khalediah, Jean-Bernard Eyquem, Phillip Collington.
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
