Romain Grosjean admits the burns sustained to his left hand in his horrific Bahrain Grand Prix crash could prevent him from returning for what is set ꦡto be the final Formula 1 race of his career in Abu Dhabi. 

Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi is st🥀anding in for Grosjean at this weekend𓃲’s Sakhir Grand Prix as the Frenchman continues his recovery from his miraculous escape from the burning wreckage of his car which split into two upon impact following a high-speed, head-on crash with the barriers last weekend. 

The Frenchman suffered burns to his hands and injured his left ankle as he clambered out of his burning VF-20, having provided a deta🐈iled a🅰ccount of his extraordinary survival story to the media via a Zoom call on Friday.

Grosjean has set himself the target of retur🎉ning to contest the final race of the season at the Yas Marina Circuit, though he conceded that might not be possible if his burns have not fully healed. 

"Jumping back in the car, it's been my life, and I w⛎ould like to cross the finish line properly when I finish my career in F1," he said💝.

"I don't really want it to be over on that day. Even if the footage of having a Haas crossing at the back of the field will b💎e less dramatic and probably less broadcasted around the world, I would like to.

"If it doesn't happen, it's okay, I will have other opportunities to cross other finish lin꧅es in the future. The doctors say that is difficult to know yet. The right ha🥀nd 100% will be ready.

"The strength and the mobility in the left hand gets better day afte꧂r day. The strength is here.

"The mobility, there's still a lot of swelling from the inflammation. So, this needs to start reducing. But g🧜rafts haven't been ruled out yet.

"I'm joking, I'm happy, but the pain of the last two days hꦿas been high. I'm quite strong with pain. I broke my right hand early this year, falling down in the kitchen.

"I haven't told anyone, but it was an open break, two bones I put myself in place, and went to th𝓡e hospital, and the pain was o🦩kay, so I'm very strong with some pain.”

Grosjean said he is𒁃 not prepared to risk permanent damage to his left hand by attempting a return to the cockpit in Abu Dhabi but is hopeful of conducting a private F1 test early next yea𒊎r in the event of him being unable to complete his final race. 

"I won't t𒁏ake the risk of losing mobility in my left index and left thumb for the rest of my life, just to go to Abu Dhabi," he explained. 

"The story would be beautiful to go to Abu Dhabi. If I don't, I'll call every single F1 team and see if anyone would offer me a private test in January 𝓡or so, to jump back in the car, and have 10-1𝓡5 laps to myself.

"On Sunday night the first video call I did with my wife and kids, and my dad was there, I said, 'I will race in Abu ✃Dhabi’.

"You can imagine their reaction, they weren't very impressed with me! And I won't blame them, and I always understand that they don't accept it. It’s very selfish, but it's what🔯 I need, and it's what I want to do.

"If it doesn't happen, I'm alive, I will have plenty of opportunities in the future. I will have a 🎃superlicence in 2021, and we've seen that no one is safe from COVID. So let's see."