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George Russell recently opened up about his crash with Zhou Guanyu at the 2022 F1 British Grand Prix. The Chinese driver experienced a horrendous crash in the first lap of the race where his car flipped, slid through the gravel trap and got flung behind the tire barrier wall.
The incident forced George Russell out of the race as well. However, the Briton understood the severity of the crash and quickly came out of his car to help Zhou Guanyu along with the marshals.
Speaking about the incident with Motorsport.com, the 24-year-old worded his thoughts and how he was ready to help in any way. He said:
“Wearing three layers of clothing and helmet, gloves and boots, with a radio plug-in, with a drink bottle in your mouth – it's quite claustrophobic. When you see a car flying through the air, and land in a position, which is essentially trapped, that's a pretty horrendous place to be in.”
At that moment, the Briton almost forgot about the race and simply wanted Guanyu to be fine and out of the car. Russell said:
"I was out of the race and when you are out of the race, your first thought is 'can I help him in a way?’”
George Russell further explained how tricky and unpredictable things can be after such a crash. The car could also catch massive fire if the fuel tank gets punctured. Russell said:
"I guess, if I was in that position, I would want every single bit of help as soon as possible, because you don't know what is going to happen next, the car's going on fire or whatnot. So, I guess that was probably more of a human reaction as opposed to a racing driver reaction."
George Russell believes Mercedes will be strong in 2023 F1 season
George Russell strongly believes that Mercedes will bounce back from 2022 and fight for the top spot next year. The Silver Arrows struggled with porpoising and other aerodynamic issues throughout the 2022 F1 season. Hence, they were unable to keep up their long dominating spell, which they started back in 2013.
However, the young Briton is positive about next season. He mentioned how the team has not lost themselves completely and are still capable of winning races and titles. Speaking to the BBC, George Russell said:
"They haven't forgotten how to build a fast race car. We just got it wrong this year. We got the philosophy wrong. We went down a route which turned out to be the wrong route. Sometimes it takes you a long time to dig yourself out of that hole."
He further stated that while Mercedes "are a step behind" the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari, they will be in a stronger position from the opening race of next season.
"Now I feel we've dug ourselves out of that hole and we're building on top of that. We are a step behind Red Bull and Ferrari and we've got a lot of catching up to do - but we're definitely going to be in a much stronger position from race one next year than we were this year."
Since all the teams spent an entire season dealing with the new regulations, most of them, including Mercedes, will be quite stable in the 2023 F1 season.
