Africa-Press – South-Africa. George Russell has been in great form throughout 2022. Having joined the Mercedes-AMG team after a three-year spell at Williams, he hit the ground running and finished each of the opening nine races inside the top five. He even secured two podium finishes in the process.
Coming into his home race, the British Grand Prix, he was excited as he looked to wow the crowds and maybe even finish on the podium. Though qualifying didn’t go to plan with rain wrecking plans and strategies, the Brit had it all to do starting in eighth place.
Sadly, Russell’s race would not make it past the first turn as he crashed out in what would become one of the most spectacular incidents in recent memory. Thankfully, Russell and all those involved came away unscathed and will they participate in this weekend’s Austrian GP.
An epic shunt
Getting off the line at the race’s start, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) positioned his car between Russell (on his right) and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu. But Gasly got his positioning wrong and tangled with Russell’s Mercedes.
The impact forced Russell’s car to the left and into Guanyu’s Alfa, sending the Chinese driver barrelling down the main straight before his car flipped over the barricades.
It was a nasty-looking incident, but several other drivers, including Alex Albon (Williams), were innocent victims.
Russell’s car came to a standstill in the sand, but the Mercedes driver immediately unbuckled himself and rushed to Guanyu’s wreckage. The race was stopped (red-flagged) immediately.
READ: Key talking points from British GP: First-time winner, horrifying crash and a record for Hamilton
“I just got swamped by all the cars [at the start], and next thing I know, I got a touch from behind, [went] in the side of Zhou, and we saw the rest,” Russell said after the race. “I saw the race was red-flagged, so I knew it was safe to jump out.
“I wanted to go see if [he] was okay and if I could have helped in anyway. So many emotions… [but] glad to see that Zhou is doing okay. It’s horrible to see an incident like that.”
Race control did not allow Russell to re-join the race, citing that he had exited his car on the track.
Former F1 hopeful, Callum Ilott, praised Russell for his actions, saying that the driver had done the same for him in their karting years: “The first time I flipped a go-kart, [George] stopped on track to lift it off of me. He’s always been a good egg since day 1, great role model for anyone.”
Russell’s run of top-five finishes in 2022 may have come to an end, but he won respect and praise with his selfless actions.
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