ROMAIN GROSJEAN miraculously survived a fireball inferno after his car hit the wall and burst into flames on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

Grosjean, 34, scrambled to get of his burning car for almost half-a-minute before eventually leaping away from the inferno and into the arms of a Formula One doctor.

Replays showed that Grosjean moved to his right at the third corner before hitting the front-left wheel of Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri and penetrating the steel barrier at close to 140mph.

The force of the impact, which registered at 53G, split his machine in two.

His cockpit instantly burst into flames and the sport held its breath as television cameras cut away from the extraordinary accident, after which the race was immediately paused.

After a number of minutes, Grosjean’s Haas team reported that their driver was out of the cockpit.

He was later airlifted to a military hospital with burns to his hands and ankles and suspected broken ribs. It is also understood that he might have broken a bone in his foot.

There will now be question marks as to how Grosjean’s car managed to penetrate a steel barrier.

A delay of more than an hour ensued as track officials repaired it, with the race eventually won by Lewis Hamilton.