The television pictures, watched by the entire sporting world, showed a wall of flame so thick it was impossible to see any sign of life.
Then he emerged, chest heaving, one shoe missing. Grosjean later described punching out the headrest with his helmet to free himself, then pulling so hard on his trapped left leg that his shoe stayed wedged in the chassis as his foot came loose.
The halo had deflected the barrier over his head and almost certainly saved his life. His injuries were limited to second-degree burns on his hands and ankles. He was discharged from hospital three days later.
It was not the ending anyone had wanted for his Formula 1 career, but Haas granted him that closure five years later, inviting him back to drive the VF-23 at Mugello in 2025.
5. Mazepin, Uralkali and zero points
The 2021 season was Haas’s low point.
The team entered it having made a calculated decision to write off the year — focusing development resource on 2022 and the new regulations — and signed Nikita Mazepin alongside Mick Schumacher, the latter bringing genuine promise, the former bringing his father’s fertiliser company Uralkali as title sponsor.
The arrangement was, in hindsight, one of the worst decisions in the team’s history.
The car scored zero points all season, the team’s worst finish since its debut year and the only year it has failed to score in its history.
Mazepin was involved in multiple incidents and became a lightning rod for criticism.
The structural compromise of Haas’ model — that without a meaningful budget, the team could be competitive in a regulations cycle that suited it and invisible in one that didn’t — was laid bare.
By February 2022, circumstances would at least resolve the personnel question swiftly.
6. The Mazepin split
On 24 February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Within days, Haas had stripped the Uralkali branding from its cars during pre-season testing in Barcelona. By 5 March, nine days after the invasion began, the team had terminated Mazepin’s contract and ended its title partnership with Uralkali with immediate effect.
It was one of the fastest and most decisive calls in recent F1 history.
The FIA had announced Russian and Belarusian drivers could continue to compete under a neutral flag, but Haas ignored that provision entirely.
The contrast between the messiness of the Rich Energy saga and the speed of this decision said something about what Haas was capable of when the situation demanded clarity rather than commercial patience.
7. Magnussen returns
The practical consequence of Mazepin’s split was straightforward: Magnussen, who had been out of grand prix racing for a year, received a phone call and was back on the grid for Bahrain.
Magnussen had not driven a Formula 1 car in race conditions for over a year when he lined up for the 2022 season opener.
