SAKHIR, Bahrain: Romain Grosjean is returning home to Switzerland for treatment on the burns he suffered from his fireball crash in Bahrain and will miss the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his Haas team announced on Sunday.
Next week鈥檚 race at Yas Marina was to have been the Frenchman鈥檚 last for the team.
鈥淚鈥檓 naturally very sorry that Romain will miss what was going to be his final race with Haas F1 Team,鈥� said team principal Guenther Steiner.
鈥淩omain has shown exceptional bravery and amazing spirit over the last few days 鈥� we know how badly he wanted to be able to return to the cockpit in Abu Dhabi.鈥�
Grosjean said the decision not to race in Abu Dhabi was one of the hardest 鈥渙f my life.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e tried as much as we could with the doctor to recover and to repair my hand, but the risk of racing is too big for my recovery and my health.
鈥淚 will miss the team, but I will be supporting them as ever.鈥�
On Saturday Grosjean sat in a Haas car for the first time since extricating himself from the blaze that engulfed him on the opening lap of last Sunday鈥檚 race.
Grosjean鈥檚 car split in half in a 245 kph impact with the barriers in one of the most dramatic incidents in the recent history of Formula One.
He has said he 鈥渟aw death too closely鈥� in the crash, telling AFP in an interview on Wednesday: 鈥淚 thought: 鈥業t can鈥檛 end like this, not now鈥�. I tried to get out again, but I couldn鈥檛, so I sat down and I saw death, not close up, but from too close... It鈥檚 a feeling that I wish on no one.鈥�
The drivers are competing in Bahrain for the second week in a row with the Sakhir Grand Prix to take place in the kingdom later Sunday.
Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi, the grandson of double Formula One champion Emerson Fittipaldi, is replacing the 34-year-old Frenchman this weekend.