Grosjean thought of Lauda in burning car: "I didn't want to end up like this"

Romain Grosjean has spoken about his escape from the burning car for the first time since his severe accident at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Haas driver spent a considerable amount of time in the burning wreckage.

It took less than half a minute, but for Grosjean, it seemed like an eternity. "It felt much longer than 28 seconds. I see my visor turning all orange, I see the flames on the left side of the car," the Frenchman says in an interview with TFI and LCI.

"I did not lose consciousness. To get out of the seat, I was able to remove my seat belt, the steering wheel was no longer there, probably flew off during the impact," Grosjean said who also lost his left shoe in the crash. "In the end, my hands were burnt and a big sprain, while I thought I had broken my foot."

While he was sitting in his burning car, all kind of thoughts going through his head. “I saw my visor was all orange and the flames around me." He also had to think of another F1 accident. “The accident of Niki Lauda came to mind. I didn’t want to end up like that. I had to get out for my children.”

Meanwhile, Grosjean is recovering well from his injuries and, as a precaution, he stays another night in the hospital in Bahrain. "I was more afraid for my family, my children in the first place, but also my father and my mother," Grosjean says. "I was not really afraid of myself. I saw death coming, I had no option but to get out of there."