Nick Heidfeld has reflected on the "scary" incident when his car turned into a fireball in Hungary.
German says he "really felt the temperature" of car fire
Nick Heidfeld reflected on his "scary" exit from Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix when his Renault burst into flames at the exit of the pitlane.
The German was forced to leap from his R31 immediately after a delayed second pit stop at the Hungaroring caused the car's forward-pointing exhaust system to overheat.
A wheel-nut problem had prolonged Heidfeld's stay in his pit box and when he eventually pulled on to the pit lane, smoke started billowing from the back of the car before it eventually set ablaze.
Pulling onto the grass verge on the main straight, Heidfeld had to quickly jump from his stricken car as flames lapped around him.
It was the second fire his Renault has suffered this season as Heidfeld also had to leap from his car during practice for the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
"At Barcelona I looked left (in his mirror), saw a small fire and had time to stop," said Heidfeld.
"This one, I looked straight, saw the fire and it got hot. I really felt the temperature. It was scary, much more than Barcelona.
"It's now my second consecutive weekend without finishing, so I'm very disappointed. The last couple of races have not been what I hoped for."
Heidfeld, who crashed out in last week's German Grand Prix, has revealed the team are looking into the exact cause of the fire.
"The stop was a bit longer, which might be one of the reasons, but it is not like the stop was very long," added Heidfeld.
"It was not that I was stationary for 20 seconds or something, but we are still investigating."
