Grosjean was quickly flown by helicopter to BDF Military Hospital, 10 miles north in West Riffa, with slight burns to his hands, which were bandaged on Sunday night. Hopefully same about the burns on my hands. It felt much longer than 28 seconds. Here they tell me what happened on that night in Bahrain and how Romain Grosjean is the true hero.

"He said, 'I didn't see the vehicle.' I don't want to put words in his mouth and say he doesn't remember it, I think he didn't realise what he did".

As to whether Grosjean has watched replays since the accident, Steiner said: "I don't think he's looked a lot at it, but again I don't want to go there asking him because that's his decision". Obviously, it's not an ideal set of circumstances to get my first opportunity to compete in Formula One, but I'm extremely grateful to Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner for their faith in putting me behind the wheel this weekend.

The incident occurred on the first lap as Grosjean's auto was clipped by Danill Kvyat's AlphaTauri and then pushed towards the barriers. I put my hands in the fire, so I clearly felt it burning on the chassis. But I said, 'Try to get better, we speak on Sunday or Monday let's say, how you feel, if it is doable'.

"My five-year-old son is convinced I have super powers, that I have a magical love shield".

Grosjean is father to three young children, Sacha (7), Simon (5) and Camille (2), and says they were in his mind as he tried to extricate himself from the vehicle.

Both men have worked within F1 for some many years now.

Grosjean acknowledged he would likely need to discuss the trauma of such a dramatic accident as he feared he would be killed.

"I think there'll be some psychological work to do because I saw death coming".

"Even in Hollywood, we're not able to do images like that".

"It's good that the cars are safer than they used to be in the past but the guardrail shouldn't fail and the vehicle shouldn't catch fire in that fashion. The auto catching fire, exploding, and the battery that burst into flames too, so it added a lot of energy to the impact".

Hamilton took the chequered flag ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen during a late safety vehicle intervention, and was quick to compliment the sport's modern safety standards for saving Grosjean whose Haas auto broke in two on impact before erupting in flames at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

"I would say there is a feeling of being happy to be alive, of seeing things differently", the 34-year-old Frenchman said.

"Even though it is complicated for those close to me, it is a need for me to get back into a Formula One vehicle, to see where I am, if I can continue to drive", he said.

"It was nearly like a second birth".