Drivers respond to Grosjean's crash: "Could not believe he walked out of the car"

Romain Grosjean crashed hard in the first lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix. The car caught fire and pierced the barrier at the side of the track. The drivers were shocked by the accident and particularly surprised by the fact that the Frenchman climbed out of the car himself.

Kvyat experienced it up close

Daniil Kvyat saw the crash happen in his mirrors, after hitting Grosjean with his left front wheel. "At first I was angry because he cut me off like that. What was he doing there?! My mind changed as soon as I looked in my mirrors. I was just hoping he would be OK. I didn't like what I saw in my mirrors right away and I'm really happy that he's OK," says the Russian at Sky Sports F1.

Sebastian Vettel didn't dare to look. "I didn't look at the images much because I didn't want to. I have no idea how he got out of it. But the crash barrier has failed. It shouldn't bend like that. The car shouldn't have caught on fire either."

Russell and Leclerc full of disbelief

George Russell can hardly believe that Grosjean himself jumped out of the car. "Unbelievable. If the halo hadn't been there, things would have turned out completely different. The way he walked away from the wreckage was unbelievable. Fortunately, safety has improved so much."

Charles Leclerc immediately turned on his radio and hoped for good news. "I saw it happen in my mirrors and came straight on the radio. I wanted to hear the good news that Romain was doing well. When I arrived at turn nine and saw the flames, I got worried. When I saw the accident, I couldn't believe he ran out of the car."

This article was written and originally published on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.