Highlights
- Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claimed his first F1 win in a thrilling British Grand Prix.
- The race was red-flagged after one lap, due to a multi-car crash.
- Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu survived a terrible crash.
- Zhou has been declared conscious and uninjured.
The Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz claimed his first victory in F1 during a dramatic British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday.
This historical win made Carlos Sainz the second Spaniard to win Grand Prix after double world champion Fernando Alonso.
Mexican Sergio Perez was the first runner-up and reached the finishing line 3.779 seconds after Carlos. The second runner-up was 7 times world champion, Lewis Hamilton.
The race was halted and red-flagged even before the end of the opening lap after a terrifying crash involving multiple cars, this caused the Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu’s car to flip over and slam into the fence upside down.
During the halt a group of ‘Just stop oil’ climate activists start protesting on the track, but the matter was resolved by the authorities and the race was continued after a very long delay in the previous grid order.
The Terrifying Crash
There was a huge excitement for the upcoming race with an abundance of global star racers buzzing around the track before the start. But just after racing began all that excitement turned to nerves as the race was halted and red-flagged after a huge collision in the opening lap.
The incident took place in the first lap when Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, who was at 11th, ran into Russell’s car which caused the Mercedes to hit Zhou Guanyu’s car because of that crash the Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo flipped and slam into the fence upside down and nearly roll over into the crowd. This incident involved at least 6 cars.
The Alfa Romeo was flipped and slid upside down through the gravel trap, before being thrown over the safety barrier, and in the end, it crashed down between a chain-link fence and a tire wall.
George Russell had quickly stepped out of his car to check on Guanyu. Paramedics and emergency crews also responded quickly and pulled out Zhou from the car and took him to the medical care center.
Williams driver Alex Albon was also taken to the hospital after Zhou, as there was a separate yet interconnected incident took place. Due to the Zhou and Russell’s crash, Albon hit the brakes and Sebastian Vettel collided into the back of his car, which then went into the pit wall.
Zhou and Albon both were conscious and safe, and no noticeable injury was found. Zhou is considered another and latest driver to be saved by ‘Halo‘ the head protection device.
Zhou said during the incident that he is okay and the Halo saved him today.
Due to the FIA Rules, George Russell was unfortunately ruled out of the race as he exited the car.
What is the F1 halo?
The F1 halo is a head safety device, designed by Mercedes.
It is a titanium curved bar, fitted in the cockpit of an F1 car around the driver’s head.
FIA made it mandatory to use for every F1 car in 2018. Since then, many F1 racers have been saved by the halo.