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4:24
In an exclusive with Sky Sports F1, Romain Grosjean recalls his death-defying crash at the Bahrain GP last Sunday.
In an exclusive with Sky Sports F1, Romain Grosjean recalls his death-defying crash at the Bahrain GP last Sunday.
Romain Grosjean has given a detailed and forceful account of his terrifying Formula 1 accident, recounting Sky sports in a poignant exclusive interview in which he was “at peace” with death during his 28 seconds in the fire, before dramatically exiting his burning car.
In his first television session in English since last weekend’s terrible Bahrain GP crash, where his Haas car broke through barriers at about 137 mph, broke in two and burst into flames, Grosjean spoke with Sky F1’s Martin Brundle. and described his ordeal and incredible escape.
The full interview will air during our preparation on Sunday for the Sakhir GP, which Grosjean is missing due to minor burns, starting at 3.30pm on Sky Sports F1.
Grosjean started with the moment of terrible impact on the first lap.
“Right away, when the movement stopped and I opened my eyes, the first thing I did was unfasten the seat belt, try to remove the wheel – which was gone, so at least one less worry – and then try to jump out,” said. he said, before recounting his miraculous fireball escape, timed at almost half a minute.
1:24 Warning: the video shows Romain Grosjean walking away from hell after an accident on the first lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
“If I carried on from that point, it was 28 seconds, but for me it was like a minute 30,” explained Grosjean.
“He stops, I open my eyes, I unbuckle my seat belt and I want to jump. I hit something on the top of my helmet, so I sat up and thought I must be face down against the barrier, so ‘I’ll wait until they come to help me.
“I looked to my right, I looked to my left, and everything was orange. That’s weird, I thought.
“A few things [came into my head]. Is it sunset? No. Is it the circuit light? No. Then I realized it was fire. Then I knew I didn’t have time until they came.
“This time I tried to go up, a little more to the right. It doesn’t work. A little more to the left. It doesn’t work. So I sit down again. Then there is a bit of swearing. So.
“I thought of Niki Lauda, the driver I love the most in the history of Formula 1. I said: ‘I can’t finish like Niki, I can’t finish like this. It can’t be my last race. ‘
“So I tried again, I’m stuck. And then comes the scariest part. I sit back, all my muscles relax, and I was almost at peace with myself, thinking, I’m dead. I’ll die.
5:01 Alan van der Merwe, the FIA medical car driver, and FIA doctor Dr. Ian Roberts, speak to Sky Sports F1 after helping rescue Romain Grosjean at the Bahrain GP.
“And then I thought, which part is going to burn first? Is it the foot? Is it the hands? Is it going to be painful? A very, very strange feeling. Sometimes we are close to death, we are a little scared “. . This time death was here for me [Grosjean gesticulates to right in front of his face]. I called him Benoit, don’t ask me why. I just had to give it a name.
“And then, I don’t know if that moment allowed me to recover a little, I try to think of another solution, but I thought of my children [Grosjean has three] and I said no. Today I cannot die. For my children, I cannot die today.
“Then I start to turn my head, go up and turn my body. It worked.”
Even then, Grosjean was not out of the woods.
“But then my foot got stuck on the pedal,” he adds. “Then I had to go back to the car, pull as hard as I could on my left leg. The shoe stayed where my foot was and the foot came off.
“Then I passed, the shoulder passed and I knew in that moment that the shoulder had passed the Halo. It was going to live.
3:07 Heartwarming images as Romain Grosjean, accompanied by his wife Marion, returns to the paddock of the Bahrain GP just four days after his big accident that left him with his hands burned.
“I knew my hands were on fire, I saw my gloves, they are usually red and they started to turn black and I can feel the pain and the burn. But I’m going up.
“I jump over the barrier, then I feel Ian [Roberts, FIA medical delegate] that makes me monkey and it’s an extraordinary feeling. When he throws me, I know there is someone with me. I am alive.
“I sit on my back, they touch me and I thought: am I on fire? Then Ian talks to me and says ‘sit down, sit down’. I said, ‘talk to me normally!’ I guess at that moment he knew it was okay! “
The first responders to Grosjean said they knew immediately that the Frenchman had miraculously prevented a serious injury. They later took him to the medical center.
“Jean Todt [FIA president] He came to the medical center and asked for my wife’s number right away, “Grosjean said.” So I gave him the number, he tried to call and it was a voicemail. Finally [he got through].
“‘Marion, I’m Jean, I’m with Romain’, and he puts me on speaker.
“I say, ‘Mosquito’ – I call my wife Mosquito – ‘I’m here, I’m here.’ She burst out laughing, as well as crying. She was with my dad, and it lasted five seconds there, but she knew I was alive “.
1:46 Formula 1 drivers wish Romain Grosjean a speedy return to the sport after his terrible accident that left his car engulfed in flames at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Since then, Marion Grosjean has traveled to Bahrain to be with Grosjean, who was released from the hospital on Wednesday and is privately recovering from burns, mainly on the back of his hands.
Pietro Fittipaldi replaced him at Haas for this weekend’s Sakhir GP at the same circuit, but returned to the paddock, and indeed to the crash site, on Thursday and was reunited with his Haas team and those who helped save. his life.
Grosjean is hoping to make an incredible comeback next weekend at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, which would likely be his last race in F1 as he doesn’t have a seat for next season.
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