Haas’ Kevin Magnussen admits he “didn’t feel right” restarting the Bahrain Grand Prix following his team-mate Romain Grosjean’s heavy crash on the opening lap last Sunday.
Grosjean’s car pierced the barrier, split into two and erupted into flames after making contact with AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat.
The Frenchman was taken to hospital but suffered no fractures, with worst of his injuries being second degree burns to his hands.
Magnussen recalled the ‘horrible’ period that came after Grosjean’s accident, declaring he had worries that Grosjean was hurt despite the fact he was able to walk away from his car.
“I could see all the fire and smoke and I was just thinking, when the fire is that big, it’s got to be the fuel cell,” Magnussen said.
“To have the fuel cell rupture, the crash has got to be enormous. So I was getting worried about that, they were telling me he was out of the car, that was comforting.
“Then we stopped in the pit lane I could see the replays on the screen which looked horrible.
“At that impact, with that speed into the barrier… I’ve had a pretty big impact myself and I could feel in that impact, it wouldn’t take a lot more before I’d have problems internally.
“I was just getting nervous and hoping that he would be fine, even though he jumped out of the car. That period in the stoppage, it was pretty horrible.
“It didn’t quite feel right to go back and race after that. You suddenly wake up from this dream world where you walk around thinking nothing is going to happen.
“You see a crash like that and suddenly it becomes real. To get back in the car after, it didn’t quite feel right.”
Pietro Fittipaldi has been called up to replace Grosjean for the upcoming weekend, while it is not yet known if Grosjean will return for the season’s finale in Abu Dhabi.
Grosjean was discharged from hospital on Wednesday, and returned to the F1 paddock on Thursday.
