Romain Grosjean miraculously survived a huge crash on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix when his car hit the wall and burst into flames.
Frenchman Grosjean, 34, veered off the track after just three corners, hitting the barriers with an impact registering at 53G.
He was then pictured sitting in the medical car before gingerly heading towards a stretcher.
Further replays showed that Grosjean moved to the right of the track, clipping the front-left wheel of Daniil Kvyat's AlphaTauri before crashing head on into the barriers.
There will now be question marks as to how Grosjean's car managed to penetrate a steel barrier and even if the race will resume.
"It is a miracle he is alive," said 1996 world champion Damon Hill, whose Williams team-mate Ayrton Senna perished at the San Marino Grand Prix 26 years ago.
Hamilton, who was leading the race at the time of the incident, was seen shaking his head as he watched a replay of the jaw-dropping accident from inside the Mercedes garage as the grand prix was suspended.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton tweeted: "I'm so grateful Romain is safe.
"Wow. The risk we take is no joke, for those of you out there that forget that we put our life on the line for this sport and for what we love to do.
"Thankful to the FIA for the massive strides we've taken for Romain to walk away from that safely."
I'm so grateful Romain is safe. Wow... the risk we take is no joke, for those of you out there that forget that we put our life on the line for this sport and for what we love to do. Thankful to the FIA for the massive strides we've taken for Romain to walk away from that safely https://t.co/dG8AXmsbKN
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 29, 2020
There will now be question marks as to how Grosjean’s car managed to penetrate a steel barrier.
But the halo device – the driver-cockpit protection system controversially introduced in 2018 – appears to have played a major role in the Frenchman’s remarkable escape.
South African Van Der Merwe praised the safety measures the sport has taken.
"We just took a little time to process what was going on," he said. "I am sure it was only a second or so but it felt like ages and then Romain started to get out of the car himself which was pretty amazing after an accident like that.
"There was some relief when we got back here and he was OK.
"It just goes to show that all the systems we developed worked hand in hand, the halo, the barriers, the seat belt, everything worked how it should and without just one of those things, it could have been a very different outcome."
