Zhou: My biggest fear was fire

The crash of Alfa Romeo driver Guanyu Zhou at the start of the British Grand Prix was one of the most striking and disturbing moments of the race at Silverstone, and it will be written and talked about for a long time to come.

Fortunately, Zhou was uninjured, doctors allowed him to participate in the Austrian stage of the championship and before the start of the weekend in Spielberg, he recalled his recent adventure, which started with George Russell’s car moving to the left in the In the first few seconds after the start, AphaTauri hooked up with Pierre Gasly, causing her to turn around and collide with the Chinese driver’s Alfa Romeo.

Guanyu Zhou: “At first I felt the blow and didn’t even know who hit me. When the car started to roll, the first thing I did was take my hands off the steering wheel, because it’s easy to get fractures in such accidents.

Then the car slid on the asphalt for a long time, upside down, and I realized: the speed does not drop, which means that the blow will be strong. I tried to take the safest position, pressing my hands harder against my body to avoid uncontrolled movements.

When the blow happened, I didn’t understand at all what was happening to me, because I was upside down. Then he felt something flowing, but he didn’t know if it was blood or liquid from the car. The engine was still running and I turned it off. My greatest fear was fire.

At the time, I still didn’t quite realize the strange position my car was in, but I understood that if it caught fire, it would be extremely difficult for me to get out quickly. I only saw what position she was in later, when I looked at the images of the accident.

Finally, with the help of marshals and people from the medical team, I crawled out of the cockpit. The first marshal, who happened to be near the car, asked if I was okay, and I gave him two thumbs up. He showed the same gesture to his colleagues. It was not until later that I learned that George Russell had rushed to the scene of the accident. We spoke to him on Sunday evening and I thanked him for this noble act.

Actually, this is the worst accident I’ve ever had. There is one point I would like to change: the space between the mudguards and the protective net should not be so narrow.

If it were wider, the car could stand on wheels or stay upside down. If there was no gap at all, she would have stayed on the tire barrier. But we must not allow her to linger in this position. I realize that I have been extremely lucky. On Sunday, I said the Halo system saved my life, and I haven’t changed my mind.

Monday I still felt some effects, because I got some bruises, but now everything is fine. I’m happy that the next race will be right after the race and I don’t have time to think about the accident. If I ended up in such a mess before summer vacation, I’m not sure my mental state would be normal.

Worst of all, my whole family gathered at Silverstone. Mother often goes to the races, but father and sister appear quite rarely. And as it turned out, they all had to go through this. I’m sorry I scared them so…”