Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has revealed he ‘feared the worst’ when he saw Romain Grosjean crash into the barriers during the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend.

Remarkably, despite his car piercing the barrier and bursting into flames, Grosjean escaped with only minor burns to his hands and no major injuries.

But Leclerc, who saw the impact first-hand, was not optimistic after witnessing the crash.

"I saw the crash in my mirrors, was aware straight away that it was extremely serious and I thought the worst straight away," he told BBC Sport.

"I have to be honest, I didn’t have much hope only watching it in the mirrors, and I was extremely worried on the (car-to-pit) radio.

"Unfortunately, there was no news until I got back into the pits and got out of the car to finally know he was out, which I couldn’t really believe, especially because coming into Turn Nine, I saw the flames and the fire."

Leclerc has suffered two personal tragedies as a result of motorsport crashes, with his godfather Jules Bianchi and childhood friend Antoine Hubert both being killed in fatal impacts.

And the Monégasque driver reached out to Grosjean immediately after the incident to wish him a speedy recovery. 

"I sent him two messages," Leclerc added. "The first one, I don’t think he saw it because probably he received thousands of messages and the second one he replied, probably because he could write again, as I have seen on social media that they took off his bandages.

“He was able to text again and I was happy and he seems to do fine. I didn’t go to see him at the hospital because I expected lots of people there and I didn’t want to bother him.”