Carlos Sainz Jr. opens up about the terrifying moment his Ferrari caught fire at the Austrian Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz Jr. has described the terrifying moment his Ferrari caught fire at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was running third during the latest race of the season, and very close to passing Max Verstappen for second, only for his engine to dramatically explode with just 15 laps remaining.

He very quickly drove down the runoff area towards a marshals’ post before struggling to get out of his F1-75 as the flames engulfed the car.

‘[I was] not inhaling [any smoke] but it was smelling,’ Sainz told Sky Sports on Thursday, ahead of this weekend’s French Grand Prix.

‘[The reason] you didn’t see me jump out of the car as quick was because I felt like I was safe in the moment and then as soon as I started to get burnt, I really jumped out quickly.’

Marshals were initially slow to react to the incident with one approaching the car with a fire extinguisher but failing to use it at first, although replays later showed that he was actually attempting to put a wedge behind the car’s front wheels to stop it rolling back.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>DISASTER FOR FERRARI! Carlos Sainz is out of the race with engine failure! The Ferrari is on fire with flames pouring out. pic.twitter.com/kXzrGEvc6a

Given that the Red Bull Ring is situated in a valley, the circuit is very hilly and as Formula 1 cars lack handbrakes Sainz’s Ferrari began to roll back towards the track as he attempted to exit it.

‘I didn’t want to leave the car rolling backwards,’ he added.

‘I was waiting for someone to come and help me with the rolling and the extinguisher [in case the car went rolling back into the path of other cars on track].

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