Magnussen pays tribute to teammate Grosjean

03/12/2020
NEWS STORY

It was an emotional evening in Bahrain tonight as, four days after his horrific crash, Romain Grosjean returned to the scene.

The Frenchman, accompanied by his wife Marion, met up with his team as well as thanking the marshals that saved his life, along with Dr Ian Roberts and Safety Car driver, Alan Van der Merwe.

Teammate, Kevin Magnussen spoke of Grosjean's bravery, revealing that within hours of the crash the Frenchman was talking about his return to action, the Dane admitting that it felt wrong to continue racing after the incident.

"We turned around Turn 8 and driving towards where the crash happened and I could see all the fire and all the smoke, and I was just thinking, when the fire's that big, it's going to be the fuel cell, and to have the fuel cell rupture, the crash has got to be enormous," said the Dane.

"So I was getting worried about that," he continued, "though they were telling me he was out of the car so that was comforting.

"Then we stopped in the pit lane and I could see the replays on the screen which looked horrible and with that impact, at that speed into that barrier... I've had a pretty big impact myself and I could feel in that impact that it wouldn't take a lot more before I'd have problems internally.

"So even if he could walk away, I was just getting nervous, hoping that he would be fine, even though he jumped out of the car. So that period in between, in the stoppage, it was pretty horrible really," he admitted.

"It didn't quite feel right to get back and race after that," said the Dane, who today announced that he will be racing in IMSA with Chip Ganassi Racing next year. "Suddenly you wake up from this dream world where you walk around thinking that nothing's going to happen and you see a crash like that and it just suddenly becomes very real. And to get back in the car straight after, it didn't quite feel right."

Asked how he felt after meeting up with Grosjean at the track today, Magnussen smiled and said: "Everything taken into consideration I would say he's really good.

"His spirit is incredible after what he's just been through," he added. "He's very positive and reflective on the whole thing. He seems pretty strong about it."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Bahrain, here.

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Published: 03/12/2020
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