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F1 world in disbelief as driver walks away from terrifying crash

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read
F1 driver Zhou Guanyu (pictured right) in a neck brace as he is removed from his car and (pictured left) Zhou's car crashing at the British Grand Prix.
F1 driver Zhou Guanyu (pictured right) is removed from his car after his Alfa Romeo flipped (pictured left) at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The F1 world has watched on in horror as Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu survived a terrifying high-speed crash at the British Grand Prix.

Zhou was involved in a crash at the first Abbey corner travelling at around 220km/h in an incident also involving drivers Pierre Gasly and George Russell.

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The Chinese star's Alfa Romeo was launched upside down and travelled along the gravel, before catapulting over the tyre barrier and into the fence.

Zhou credited the F1 halo head protection system for saving him after his car was crushed and left wedged between the metal fence and tyres at the British Grand Prix.

Remarkably, Zhou escaped the incident without any serious injury and was able to return to the pits to watch Ferrari's Marco Sainz win the GP.

"I'm OK, all clear," Zhou said on Twitter after a trip to the medical centre.

"Halo saved me today. Thanks everyone for your kind messages."

A specialist crew attended Zhou in his car, while drivers returned to the pits in a lengthy delay that lasted more than an hour.

Mercedes's George Russell got out of his stricken car and ran across to check on Zhou.

The Briton appeared to have been clipped from behind by AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, the Mercedes' tyre then making contact with the Alfa.

A radio message to Zhou's team-mate Valtteri Bottas said: "Zhou is conscious. He is talking. There are no fractures and, considering the circumstances, he is pretty good, pretty well."

Williams driver Alexander Albon was also caught up in the grand prix carnage and flown to hospital in Coventry by helicopter for precautionary checks.

Zhou Guanyu's far, pictured here flipped upside down in the awful crash.
Zhou Guanyu's far flipped upside down in the awful crash. (Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images)

F1 halo saving drivers

The titanium halo was introduced by Formula One in 2018, initially to some resistance from drivers who disliked the look of the protective ring around what had previously been a completely open cockpit.

It has since been credited with saving a number of lives in serious incidents.

Roy Nissany was protected by it when Norwegian Dennis Hauger's car flew and landed on the Israeli Formula Two driver's halo during a morning race.

Zhou had been approaching the 160mph opening Abbey corner when Russell tagged the right rear of the Alfa Romeo, sending it on to its roof and sliding out of control.

"I'm glad to see Zhou okay. It was an horrific incident," Russell told Sky Sports.

Many others in the F1 world also sent Zhou best wishes.

The race was immediately red-flagged, but as the cars made their way back to the pits, five protesters stormed the circuit at the 200mph Wellington Straight before sitting down.

They were dragged away by marshals as a number of drivers sped by.

Following a delay of 53 minutes the race restarted.

with AAP

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