Formula 1

F1 News: George Russell praised for assisting Zhou after Nightmare Crash

George Russell’s top-5 finishing streak came to an end at this weekend’s British GP, though this is irrelevant given the carnage at the beginning of the race.

Russell was involved in the chaos of the first corner, being hit from behind by Gasly and spinning into Zhou Guanyu in a very unfortunate racing incident.

Immediately after the Briton found himself unable to continue running, he sprinted towards the trapped Zhou and played his part in working with the marshalls to help extract him from the barriers.

Following the end of his race, Russell spoke eloquently about the incident, as quoted by the race: 

“I’m glad to see Zhou’s OK. An incredibly scary incident, not just for him but for everyone in the crowd as well. It’s never nice to see.

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, [with] nowhere to go. Yeah, something to learn.

I jumped out to see if he was OK, and when I came back, I couldn’t quite get the car started, but I just wanted to check with my team, and when I came back, the car was already on the flat-bed, and the FIA said we couldn’t restart.

Whilst frustrated that his own race was ended through no fault, Russell showed great selflessness in the situation and proved why he is such an integral part of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association).

There can be little doubt he – along with the rest of the drivers and sport at large – will continue to push for driver safety.

 

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