British GP 2022: Protestors storm onto the track on opening lap of Silverstone

British GP 2022: Protestors storm onto the track on opening lap of Silverstone

The protestors invade the track during the first lap.

As reported by Reuters, the British police had intelligence that protestors were planning to invade the track at the British Grand Prix this weekend and had issued a warning on Friday for the same, so that the protestors do not put themselves or the drivers in harm’s way. It seems that the warning went on deaf ears.

https://twitter.com/NorthantsPolice/status/1542795067441745921?s=20&t=VR_qz6tRWcGZTkj3j-Sowg

The first lap of the race was already chaotic. After an incident at the start of the race, Alex Albon, Zhou Guanyu, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell, and Esteban Ocon were all involved in the incident, as well as Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly. with the major involvement coming between George Russell and Zhou Guanyu. The Chinese driver’s car was upside down after contact with George Russell and he went over the barriers and into the fencing.

The driver is reported to be okay, but came out on a stretcher. That was not the only chaos at the start, as protestors stormed the fence and invaded the track. The protestors are presumed to be part of Climate Action Groups.

FS Video

UPDATES: F1 confirms local authorities are dealing with the matter

As reported by Andrew Benson, who posted: “We can confirm that after the red flag, several people attempted to enter the track. These people were immediately removed and the matter is now being dealt with by the local authorities.”

UPDATE 2: As confirmed on Sky Sports, Zhou Guanyu is reported to be okay considering the circumstances, and has no fractures. George Russell will not be participating in the restart, and the start will be in the original grid order.