His car was sliced in two and the safety barrier was smashed to smithereens.
And, then somehow, from a fireball appeared the figure of Romain Grosjean, to leave himself and the whole of F1 asking one question.
How did he survive that?
The dramatic, chilling start to the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday became a testament to Formula One’s modern-day safety regulation as the Haas driver walked away from one of the scariest crashes the sport has ever seen.
The outcome of this 140mph shunt could have been so much worse.
Yet it showed the huge strides F1 has made in safety since Jules Bianchi’s tragic death five years ago.
Bianchi suffered serious head injuries in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014, succumbing to them in July the following year.
Last year tragedy struck again as the sport mourned the death of Formula Two racer Anthoine Hubert at the Belgian Grand Prix
Hubert was the first fatality at an F1 race weekend since Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died at the 1994 San Marino GP.
And, for a worrying half-a-minute at the Bahrain International Circuit, there were concerns over Grosjean’s health.
The Frenchman’s car, heavy with fuel, split in two as it pierced the barrier and immediately burst into flames.
But to the relief of the watching millions, Grosjean eventually leapt away from the inferno with the help of Formula One doctor Ian Roberts.
It emerged that Grosjean climbed out of his burning machine with his racing boot missing from his left foot.
Englishman Roberts and Alan van der Merwe, the driver of the FIA’s medical car, were two of the first people on the scene to help the injured Frenchman.
Van der Merwe said: “It was a big surprise. I have never seen that much fire in 12 years.
“Romain got out of the car himself, which is pretty amazing after an accident like that.
“All the systems we have worked to develop, everything worked hand-in-hand: the halo, the barriers, the seat-belt. Everything worked.
“Without just one of those things working, it could have been a very different outcome.”
Indeed, it was F1’s halo cockpit safety device, which divided opinion when it was introduced in 2018, that proved effective and helped Grosjean to avoid a fatal injury.
The impact was measured at more than 50G, according to a spokesman for the FIA.
“It is a miracle he is alive,” said Britain’s 1996 world champion Damon Hill, who also expressed his “absolute shock and horror” at the images of the fiery crash.
The race was delayed for an hour and 20 minutes as track workers removed the wrecked barrier and replaced it.
When the race restarted, there was drama as the Racing Point of Lance Stroll collided with Kvyat and turned upside down.
Stroll quickly came on the radio and informed the team he was okay before being seen climbing out of the car.
The remainder of the race played out without incident as Lewis Hamilton held on to secure a win in the first race since he was crowned a seven-time world champion a fortnight ago.
But this race will long be remembered for one man... and the day the sport was left holding its breath.
