Zhou involved in frightening 1st-lap crash at British Grand Prix

SILVERSTONE, Towcester — Zhou Guanyu stated he was “all clear” Sunday after a frightening first-lap crash that introduced the British Grand Prix to a right away halt as security crews attended to the one Chinese driver in Formula One.

Zhou’s automotive slid upside-down throughout the gravel and his Alfa Romeo gave the impression to be wedged between fencing and a tire barrier at the primary nook. The race was purple flagged and George Russell, one of many drivers involved in the crash, sprinted from his automotive to the tire barrier to test on Zhou.

Zhou was taken to the observe’s medical heart for remark and credited the head-protecting “halo” machine on the automobiles for shielding him.

“I’m ok, all clear. Halo saved me today. Thanks everyone for your kind messages!” he wrote on Twitter.

Alex Albon of Williams was additionally taken to the medical heart after which his workforce stated he’d been transferred by helicopter to Coventry Hospital for a precautionary test. Albon had spun into the pit wall after being struck by Sebastian Vettel from behind as drivers tried to keep away from the incident involving Zhou. Williams stated Sunday night Albon had been “given the all clear” and discharged from hospital.

Russell seemed to be hit from behind at the beginning and was knocked into Zhou, whose automotive went flying throughout a gravel lure and over a tire wall into the retaining fence. The automotive was skidding on the halo, then went airborne. It was caught between the tire wall and the fence, delaying efforts to extricate Zhou.

Russell, who ran from his automotive to assist Zhou, referred to as it “one of the scariest crashes I’ve ever seen.”

Russell was declared out of the race by the FIA as a result of his Mercedes was loaded onto a truck to be taken again to pit lane whereas he was checking on Zhou. Mercedes protested the decision, however the FIA didn’t budge.

The drivers returned to the pits to await a restart.

After the crash, however whereas automobiles have been nonetheless on the observe, protesters from an environmental group referred to as Just Stop Oil ran onto the observe and sat down. The group stated that 5 of its activists reached the observe. Local police stated seven arrests have been made and that the actions had put lives at danger.

The Just Stop Oil group additionally tried to disrupt some Premier League soccer video games in England in latest months.

The halo machine across the cockpit performed a distinguished function earlier Sunday in a Formula Two race at Silverstone when Dennis Hauger’s automotive landed on high of rival Roy Nissany’s automotive. The incident was paying homage to a crash in F1 involving Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix final 12 months.

“You see the crash in F2 this morning and what happened with the halo, today they saved probably two lives,” race winner Carlos Sainz Jr. stated.