‘I was worried about potential fire’: Zhou Guanyu speaks in-depth about his devastating crash at the British GP
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Zhou Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu, at the Thursday press conference for the Austrian Grand Prix, talked about his crash in the British Grand Prix on lap 1. He revealed the fear of fire starting after he felt something was leaking from his car just after the impact. He also explained the whole scenario and his mindset while his car was set free from impact, but ultimately he remained unharmed thanks to the shield overhead, called Halo.
British GP in lap 1 saw a very horrific crash after the Alfa Romeo of the rookie Zhou collided with the Mercedes of George Russell and went upside down, scraping the head air intake onto the ground leading to the tyre barrier and over it after the impact. Zhou didn’t realise ultimately where he landing and also had a fear of fire with his engines all working.
“Once I was stopped I didn’t know where I was because I was upside down and the next thing I felt was some leaking,” said Zhou after the crash impacted his car.
“I was not sure if it was from my body or from the car, so I just tried to switch the engine off because the engine was still on at that point. I knew if a fire started it would be difficult to get out, so I switched my engine off and then everything was fine,” said Zhou.
Zhou Guanyu explained the whole crashing scenario from the car
Zhou Guanyu was upside down just after the crash and was all unaware of everything around him, he didn’t even know whom the collision was with, until after he watched the replay of the crash. He used the precautionary procedure to get himself in the best position, ready for the impact that ultimately saved his life with no injuries.
Zhou said: “For me when the flip happened the first thing I tried to do was release my hands off the steering wheel because you never know, you can break your hands very easily with a crash like that,”
“While I was rolling on the ground I knew I would be facing a massive impact coming up because the car wasn’t stopping, so I tried to lock myself in a position that was the safest possible, just waiting for the last impact,” he explained the thought process just before the impact.
“I was just holding the hands backwards and keeping a reasonable tension so you don’t get flung around when you have that last impact. That was the case, so basically I was just waiting for the last hit,” explained the 23-year-old racer.
The presence of mind and fearless mindset of the driver had saved him from future medical. In 2022, now we the sport can agree on terms to keep the Halo design over the driver’s head, as it has now saved many lives from getting away.
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Soham Raj Jain
(480 Articles Published)