George Russell has opened up about the harrowing first-lap crash at the 2022 British Grand Prix, explaining that human instinct rapidly kicked in when he rushed to the aid of Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu.
Reflecting on his first 100 races with Mercedes, the 28-year-old pinpointed the Silverstone incident as one of the most terrifying moments of his Formula 1 career. Russell was entering his first home race as a Mercedes driver. However, any hopes of a strong result in front of the Silverstone crowd were instantly dismantled by a violent collision off the startline.
Russell, who started the race on hard tyres, had contact with Pierre Gasly and Zhou. The collision led to a violent crash for the Chinese driver, which saw his Alfa Romeo flip upside down and get stuck between the tyre wall and catch fencing.
"I remember I made a really bad start," Russell explained during an interview with F1.com. "I was the only driver with the hard tyre starting the race, came off the line, wheels spinning, all the drivers zooming by me…
"I hit Zhou, and the next thing he’s spinning around and cartwheeling through the gravel. It was probably the most horrifying incident I’d ever seen from the cockpit."
Instead of returning to the pits under the red flag, Russell pulled over on the side of the track and ran to the Alfa Romeo driver's aid. After he returned to his abandoned Mercedes machinery, he was unable to restart the engine. He instructed the marshals not to touch the car as he went to get help from his team, but when he returned, the car was on the back of a flatbed recovery truck.
Because the car had received outside assistance from the recovery crew, the regulations dictated that Russell was officially out of the grand prix.
"I saw he was stuck behind the barriers, so it was a split… I think the racing instinct of me was like, ‘I need to carry on here’, and then I guess the human side came in. It kind of felt like life or death at that moment. I couldn’t imagine what he must have felt. I knew what I had to do," he continued.
Zhou was ultimately cleared of any major injuries and continued with the 2022 season.
