After Zhou Guanyu’s horrifying crash at the start of the British Grand Prix, George Russell was one of the first people on the scene. And now the video has surfaced showing the Brit desperately asking for help while standing close to Guanyu’s flipping car.
The two cars crashed as they attempted to round the first bend, sending them hurtling off the track. They had started eighth and ninth on the grid.
Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri caught Russell, who in turn tangled with Zhou, sending the latter careening off the track, across the gravel, into the tire wall, and finally into the catch fence.
Russell was able to swiftly leave his car and appeared unscathed, but Zhou’s vehicle repeatedly flipped over as it careened across the gravel, over a barricade, and into a fence.
Russell lost his chance to restart the race when the British driver, who had seen his fellow competitor in danger instantly, rushed over to try to aid him.
Prior to going over to Zhou, he hurried over to check on Williams’ Alex Albon, his best friend who had also been engaged in the incident. He described the accident as “the scariest thing I have ever witnessed in my life.”
He then stood nearby and observed as numerous medical personnel descended upon the area before an extraction team sped to the 23-year-old Chinese driver, who was competing in only his 10th race, to safely remove him from the car and transport him to the hospital in an ambulance.
Zhou was brought to the hospital as a precaution, but after an examination, he was given the all-clear.
Russell told Sky Sports after the race that he was “first delighted to see that Zhou is doing OK.” Unquestionably a horrible situation.
‘Ultimately we took a risk starting on the hard because I made the mistake in qualifying, we were starting out of position and we thought that risk gave us the best opportunity later in the race but there was just no grip whatsoever on the hardest compound.
‘It’s cold out there. I got swamped by all the cars and next thing I know I got touched and I was in the side of Zhou and that was it.
‘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 marshalls to leave the car and next thing when I got back the car was on the back of the flat bed.
‘Apparently as soon as you get assistance, you can’t restart. So very frustrating because the car just had the puncture and there’s no doubt we had the pace to get P6.
‘It’s one of those unique scenarios I guess but I can’t really think about it at the moment.’
He later added: ‘He was stuck there in such a fine gap between the tyre barriers and metal fence, there was nothing he could do, nowhere to go. It was horrible.
‘I am just glad he is OK. I got swamped at the start and the next thing I know I was on the side of Zhou.’
Alfa Romeo provided an update after the race resumed, reporting that Zhou had been let go from the hospital and was afterward observed strolling through Silverstone’s paddock.
Then on social media, Zhou confirmed he was fine, posting a message along with a selfie: ‘I’m OK, all clear. Halo saved me today. Thanks, everyone for your kind messages!’
Following his actions on race day, the Mercedes driver was hailed as a hero by Formula One fans on social media.
One posted: ‘George Russell’s action today shouldn’t go unnoticed today, a class act. Alex Albon also asked the marshalls to check on Zhou first when they came to him. Respect all around.’
While another also praised Russell for racing over to the Alfa Romeo racer, hailing him as a ‘true sportsman’.
They said: ‘George Russell is a hero and a true sportsman the first thing he did was a sprint to check Zhou.’
Meanwhile, another fan simply branded Russell the ‘hero of the day’ as they shared a photo of him leaping from his car.
Albon required medical attention as well after being thrown against the pit wall by Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.
The British-Thai driver was airlifted to a hospital in Coventry but later that evening was freed.
Albon said: ‘I’m very glad that everyone else involved in the first-lap incident is OK.
‘Thank you to the medical staff at the track and Coventry hospital.
‘It’s a shame the race ended before it began today but we are already fully focused on Austria [this coming weekend]. Bring on the next one.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk
