Romain's Interview about his horrendous crash

Romain Grosjean has spoken to Martin Brundel about his Crash Last week and how he managed to escape such a horrendous crash. He speaks about how he thought about Niki Lauda and that this cant be his last race, and the scariest moment where he thought he was going to perish. 


RG: "Straight away, when the movement stopped and I opened my eyes, the first thing I did was undo the seatbelt, try to remove the wheel - which was gone, so at least one less concern - and then try to jump out," 

"If I take through from that point, it was 28 seconds but for me it felt like one minute 30," Grosjean explained.
"It stops, I open my eyes, I undo the seatbelt, and I want to jump out. I hit something on top of my helmet, so I sit back down and thought I must be upside down up against the barrier, so I'll wait until they come and help me.
"I looked to my right, looked to my left, and it was all orange. That's strange, I thought.
"A few things [came into my head]. Is it sunset? No. Is it the light from the circuit? No. Then I realised it was fire. So I knew I didn't have time until they come.
"This time I tried to go up, a bit more to the right. Doesn't work. A bit more to the left. Doesn't work. So I sit back down. Then there's a bit of swearing going on. And I said, no, I can't finish like this.
"I thought about 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 cannot be my last race'.
"So I tried again, I'm stuck. And then comes the part which is the most scary one. I sit back down, all my muscle relaxes, and I was almost at peace with myself, thinking, I'm dead. I will die.
"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 bit scared. This time death for me was here [Grosjean gesticulates to right in front of his face]. I named it Benoit, don't ask me why. I just had to put a name on it.
"And then, I don't know if that moment allowed me to recover a bit, try to think of another solution, but I thought about my kids and I said, no. I cannot die today. For my kids, I cannot die today.
"Then I start to twist my head, go up and turn my body. It worked."

"But then my foot was stuck on the pedal," he adds. "Then I had to go back down to the car, pull as hard as I can on my left leg. The shoe stayed where my foot was and the foot came out."
"Then I went through, the shoulder went through and I knew at that time the shoulder had passed the Halo. I was going to live."
"I knew I had my hands in the fire, I saw my gloves - they are red normally and they started to go full black and I can feel the pain and the burn. But I'm going up.
"I jump on the barrier, then I feel Ian [Roberts, Medical Doctor] that pulls on my overall and that is an extraordinary feeling. When he pulls me, I know there's someone with me. I'm alive."
"I feel on my back, they touch me and I thought - am I on fire? Then Ian talks to me, saying 'sit down, sit down'. I told him, 'talk to me normally!' I guess at that point he knew I was OK!"

The ambulance that turned up for him arrived to help him into it via stretcher. He didnt want this as he wanted to show everyone who was watching that he was a banged up but he was OK. Such Pride and strength he showed us all. 

Grosjean was taken to the Medical Centre where Jean Todt came to see him. He goes on to say how Todt called his wife straight away so they could speak to each-other. 
"Jean Todt came in the medical centre and he asked me for my wife's number straight away," said Grosjean. "So I gave him the number, he tried calling and it was a voicemail. Eventually [he got through].
"'Marion, it's Jean, I'm with Romain', and he puts me on speakerphone."
"I say, 'Mosquito' - I call my wife Mosquito - 'I'm here, I'm here'. She exploded in a laugh, as well as a cry. She was with my Dad, and it lasted five seconds there, but she knew I was alive."

Grosjean was discharged from hospital on Wednesday and is on the mend. He has been to track as you will all have seen the video by now, where he went to thank everyone involved in saving his life. 

This weekend Romain has been replaced by Pietro Fittipaldi for the Sakhir Grand Prix but, he has hopes he will be back in the car for not just the Final Race of the Season but what could be his final race in Formula 1 as he currently doesn't have a seat for next year.

Get well soon Romain, we are all thankful that you are on the mend and we hope you are able to get back into the car as soon you are better.