Grosjean 'didn't see anything' before crash

Cape Town - Haas' Romain Grosjean has said he was caught completely by surprise as a loose drain cover shredded his rear tyre and sent him flying into the wall. 

The sudden accident forced the FP2 session to be red-flagged with 15 minutes, taking more precious time away on a day full of disruptions. 

Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen inadvertently caused the crash by bringing the drain cover up when taking the racing line through Turn 13, prompting a thorough on-track inspection.

“I’m fine, that’s the most important thing,” said Grosjean after emerging from the Medical Car.

“I just seen the footage, apparently a drain came out. 

“I didn’t see anything, it was on the racing line and then suddenly I had a big impact to my rear-right.” 

“The next thing I knew my tyre’s not there anymore and I’m just spinning and heading for the wall.”

“They’re going to sort things out,” the Frenchman added. “It’s a shame because we’ve lost a lot of time running and knowledge with tricky conditions.” 

“But hopefully we find a good set-up for tomorrow, we find a bit more performance and the drain strays in place.”