Article author:
Associated Press
Silverstone, England — Zhou Guanyu's terrifying first lap on Sunday The British Grand Prix stopped immediately as the safety crew joined Formula One's only Chinese driver in the crash.
The lap car slipped upside down across the gravel, and his Alfa Romeo seemed to be sandwiched between fencing and the tire barrier at the first corner. The race was flagged red and one of the drivers involved in the crash, George Russell, sprinted from his car to the tire barrier to check the lap.
"Zhou is conscious, he's talking, he has no fractures," Alfa Romeo sent a radio to Zhou's teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The FIA said Zhou was being monitored at the medical center.
Alex Albon of Williams was also taken to a medical center and said his team was taken by helicopter to Coventry Hospital for preventative checks. Albon spun into the pit wall after being hit by Sebastian Vettel from behind as the driver tried to avoid an incident involving the lap.
Russell seems to have been beaten from behind at the start and was knocked in on the lap. Zhou flew over the gravel trap, over the tire wall and towards the holding fence. The car flew into the air after gliding on a "hello" that protected the driver's head. It was sandwiched between the tire wall and the fence, delaying efforts to free the lap.
Russell, who ran out of the car to help the lap, called it "one of the most horrifying collisions I've ever seen."
Russell was declared out of the race by the FIA as Mercedes was loaded onto the truck and returned to the pit lane while checking the laps. Mercedes protested the call, but the FIA was not upset.
The driver returned to the pits to wait for a restart.
After the race was canceled, "some people tried to get into the track," F1 said in a statement. "These people were quickly taken away and the issue is now being dealt with by the local government."
Local police said Friday spectators entered the truck as part of a protest. Warned that there is a possibility. An environmental group called Just Stop Oil said five of its activists sat in the truck.
The group also tried to thwart the Premier League football match in England in recent months. Just Stop Oil has nominated one of the players on the track at Silverstone on Sunday as a protester for the goal post in the March match between Everton and Newcastle.
The "Hello" device around the cockpit played a key role when Dennis Hauger's car landed on top of rival Roy Nissany's car in Formula Two races at Silverstone on Sunday. The incident is reminiscent of a crash in F1 involving Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix last year.
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