Romain Grosjean suffered a 67G blow in his fiery fall at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the official incident report concludes.
The FIA’s analysis of the governing body has identified more than 20 areas where security can be improved.
These include changes to cars, obstacles, circuits, driver safety equipment, and medical response.
FIA President Jean Todt said the report provides “important teachings that will guide our mission to improve security.”
Grosjean’s collision was one of the most dramatic in recent years, as his Haas car split an obstacle to fall and was hung on its side. The driver was trapped in the burning car for almost 30 seconds before he managed to get out to safety. The Frenchman suffered hand burns, which have now healed enough to start racing in the American Indycar series.
It was the first time that a car caught fire so dramatically in a crash at a grand prix since 1989, and the first time the barrier has split in such a way since the 1970s.
Although the force of the impact was greater than the FIA originally suggested immediately after the crash, at 67G compared to 53G, the actual impact speed turned out to be less than 119 mph than 137mph.
The The report says the impact force caused the middle barrier rail to fail, and “significant deformations” of the upper and lower rails.
The fire was caused by a fuel leak as a result of the fuel port moving to the left of the chassis and the fact that the fuel supply connection in the motor vehicle was torn out of the ‘safety bubble’ of the tank.
It was concluded that the driver’s safety equipment, including a helmet, a head and neck safety device (Hans), a survival cell, a headrest and a halo cockpit protection system protected Grosjean and “managed the forces applied to the driver during the impact”.
It only took 11 seconds for the medical car to arrive on the scene, allowing FIA doctor Ian Roberts to instruct the marshal to direct the fire extinguisher to the cockpit, where he could see Grosjean trying to escape.
FIA Security Director Adam Baker said: “Incidents involving a fire of this magnitude are fortunately rare, so it is very important to learn what we can do, including interacting with [car’s] high voltage system.
“The efforts of those involved have been heroic and have rightly been the subject of much praise. Once our findings have been approved by the World Motorsport Council, we will integrate the actions into the ongoing work.”
Among the areas where changes will be made are:
• geometry of the front of the car survival cell and additional load tests
• head restraints designed to ensure that they do not obstruct the driver’s exit
• Engine assembly and fuel cell installation
• Partition design and positioning reviews
• Circle approval process reviews
• Updating medical intervention equipment, including fire extinguishers
A number of areas will continue to be explored, including warning systems, and the improvement of existing barriers and firefighting equipment, as well as new barrier systems.
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