After a dramatic starting crash at the 2022 British Grand Prix involving Guanyu Zhou and George Russell, the Mercedes driver offered an explanation as to what happened off the line.
Alfa Romeo driver Zhou came off worst as his turn was flipped upside down, then hurtled towards the tyre barrier and ended up on the other side of it.
“Firstly I’m glad to see Zhou is ok after an absolutely horrific incident,” Russell told Sky Sports F1 after the incident.
“Ultimately we took a risk starting on the hard because I made a mistake in qualifying and we were starting out of position.
“We thought that risk gave us the best opportunity later in the race, but there was just no grip whatsoever. The hardest compound is cold out there and I got swamped by all the cars.
“Next thing I know I got touched, was in the side of Zhou and that was it.
“I jumped out of the car to asee 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 marshals to leave the car and when I got back it was on the back of the flatbed.
“As soon as you get assistance you can’t restart.”
“We are trying [to appeal] but they are pretty adamant, the FIA. It’s one of those unique scenarios.”
Zhou was taken to the medical centre, but was conscious after being removed from the car with Alfa Romeo also confirming that the Chinese driver had no fractures.
