There were terrifying scenes on the first lap of the British Grand Prix when Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo crashed at high speed, his car flying upside down against the barriers.
When Max Verstappen took the lead in Carlos Sainz’s race, the pole-sitter, through the first curves, could see Zhou slipping towards the gravel trap.
The crash happened when Pierre Gasly, George Russell and Zhou made three widths, Russell’s left rear tire was cut by Gasly’s car and crashed into Zhou. As Russell’s Mercedes turned, he grabbed the bottom of Zhou’s car and turned it over.
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The race was immediately stopped by red flag with Zhou’s car stuck in the barriers. The speed of the crash caused the car to fly over the barriers and get stuck between them and the wall in front of a grandstand.
Russell stopped his car and ran to the crash site to see if he could help.
After being trapped inside the car for nearly 15 minutes, Zhou was eventually removed and thrown on a stretcher, and commentators reported that he was conscious and moving as the medical team pulled him off the track to receive attention. .
The rehearsals were not shown for 25 minutes until it became clear that Zhou was fine.
Zhou Guanyu’s car was sent down to the barriers. Source: FOX SPORTS
RACE FORECAST
Carlos Sainz was surprised on Saturday when his daring lap in wet weather took a first pole position ahead of his 150th Formula One race at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Spaniard overtook both his Ferrari teammate, classification specialist Charles Leclerc, and world champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull to secure first place on the grid.
His best lap of one minute and 40,983 seconds came in the final part of a tense session during which all the riders were applauded for their efforts by the spectators whipped by the rain.
“Thank you to the whole crowd for cheering me on,” he said during his post-session interview. “Thank you everyone for staying out there with this rain!
“Spaniards, we are struggling a little more with this rain, but you can already say that you are used to it! So thank you for being there. “
Asked about his performance in the treacherous conditions, Sainz admitted that he was surprised to be the fastest.
“It was a good lap, but I was struggling a lot with the stagnant water from the intermediate tires,” he said.
“There was a lot more stagnant water on the race line and it was very easy to get stuck and lose the lap.
“Also, it was harder to get temperature to the intermediates in these conditions. In the end, I did a lap that I thought was nothing special, but I just put it on the board, and it was the pole position that was a bit of a surprise. !
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Sainz, son of two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz Sr., said he felt confident of turning his first pole into an inaugural victory on Sunday.
“I think so,” he said with a wide smile.
“The pace has been there all weekend, except at FP3 where we’ve had some issues that we think we’ve corrected for‘ quali ’, but if I’m based on my FP2 pace, we should be in a good position to hold it. .
“I’m sure Max and Charles (Leclerc) will put a lot of pressure, but I’ll do my best, of course.”
He later added: “Leading a training lap will make me feel great in a Ferrari, I guess, and the first time I will.
“I don’t think I’ve forgotten that since I led a training lap in the World Series by Renault. I think I’ve led a couple of races in Formula 1; i think one was in Portimao and i liked it very much.
“So that’s the goal, to do it again. Confidence is high. I can stay in the lead and try to make my own career, pushing from the start.”
Two weeks ago in Montreal at the Canadian Grand Prix, Sainz was the fastest driver of the race, but could not find a way to overtake Verstappen, who secured his sixth victory of the season and sixth in a row. of Red Bull.
The 24-year-old Dutchman leads the race for this year’s title with 175 points ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez with 129 and Leclerc with 126 after nine of this year’s 22 Grand Prix.
Leclerc, who has hit six poles this year, was disappointed to spin on his last lap at the end of Q3 when Sainz managed to maintain control of the pole.
Verstappen also made a turn, recovering from a full 360 turn, before finishing second.
“I’m disappointed, yes,” Leclerc said. “But I’m happy for Carlos, he did a great job today. I turned in this last lap. So I don’t deserve to be in the pole, but P3 is still in a good position. We can still have a very good race. “
BRITISH GRAND PRIZE 2022 – Starting grid
1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6. Lando Norris (McLaren)
7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
8. George Russell (Mercedes)
9. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
10. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
11. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
13. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
14. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
15. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
16. Alex Albon (Williams)
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
18. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
19. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)