Cheating death in high-speed havoc
MERCEDES driver George Russell has been hailed for his actions after a terrifying crash at the British Grand Prix.
Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu is lucky to have walked away alive after his car flipped and slammed into the barriers on the first lap at Silverstone.
The race was stopped for an hour as emergency medical crews rushed to the scene, unsure whether all five men involved in two simultaneous first-lap pileups had survived.
The gravest concern was for Chinese rookie Zhou.
Saved only by the protective halo above him – a safety device introduced in 2018 – Zhou’s Alfa Romeo spun out of control as it slid across the road and into the gravel before it rolled over a safety barrier into a catch fence.
As soon as the red flag had been shown, instead of returning
to the pitlane, Russell stopped his Mercedes and sprinted to the wreckage to check on his rival.
When he got there, Russell found Zhou trapped in his cockpit between the fence and a guard rail.
After some moments of grave concern, the thumbs up came from Russell and a steward before Alfo Romeo confirmed their driver was conscious and largely unhurt.
“It was an incredibly scary incident, not just for him but for everyone in the crowd as well, it’s never nice to see,” Russell said.
“It was horrible, in that position he was stuck there, nothing he could have done.
“We need to have a think to avoid a car being stuck in such a fine gap – the space between the barriers and the metal fence and he was just stuck in there, nowhere to go. Yeah, something to learn…”
Russell later tweeted: “First of all, the most important thing is that Zhou is OK. That was a scary incident and all credit to the marshals and medical team for their quick response.”
Zhou was conscious when emergency crews finally freed him from the wreckage but was taken by stretcher to the emergency medical centre at the Silverstone circuit.
Zhou was later cleared by doctors and released from the facility, and thanked everyone for their well wishes.
“It was a big crash and I’m glad I’m OK,” Zhou said.
Russell was not allowed to restart the race.
“I jumped out of the car to see if Zhou was OK. I saw it was red-flagged straight away. When I came back to the car I couldn’t quite get it started for whatever reason so I ran back to the team to check. I told the marshals to leave the car and when I got back it was on the back of the flatbed. As soon as you get assistance you can’t restart.
“We are trying (to appeal) but they are pretty adamant, the FIA. It’s one of those unique scenarios.”
Thai driver Alex Albon was airlifted by helicopter to nearby Coventry hospital after smashing into the concrete pit wall in a separate incident involving Sebastian Vettel. He was transferred to a hospital for precautionary checks and later discharged.
When the action did resume, it was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who got away quickest from pole position in front of more than 140,000 people.
The Spaniard had never won an F1 race before but broke his duck with an inspired drive, seeing off the challenges from championship leader Max Verstappen and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo was never in the hunt in his underperforming McLaren. He took the chequered flag in 13th place with only 14 drivers making it to the end.