The 34-year-old said he had suffered a similar incident earlier this year at the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix, but this was far worse and more frightening.

His car began to blaze shortly after his second pit-stop, which was longer than usual due to a wheel-nut problem.

The team believed its forward-facing exhausts overheated while the car was stationary and this led to the fire.

Heidfeld exited the pits, hoping that increased speeds would help extinguish the fire, but instead it made it worse and when he stopped on track the car's side-pod exploded.