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The 2022 F1 British GP got off to a harrowing start as Alfa Romeo driver Guanyu Zhou was caught in a first-lap clash with George Russell. The crash was triggered at the start of the race when Russell, who had a bad getaway, tried to move to the left to cover off the car trying to pass him into Turn 1. By the time Russell started to move his car towards the left side, Nicholas Latifi had already overtaken him, but the Mercedes driver closing the door meant that the fast-starting Pierre Gasly had nowhere to go and touched the left rear of the Mercedes F1 car.
After this, it was a horrible chain reaction that saw George Russell spinning into the side of Guanyu Zhou, who was sent flying into the barriers as his Alfa Romeo rolled over the fence.
Watch the crash here:
Due to the Constantina effect caused by this clash, other drivers like Alex Albon got hit from behind by Sebastian Vettel's car. Albon, in turn, spun into the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and damaged the latter's front-right suspension.
As soon as the crash took place, the 2022 F1 British GP was red-flagged. The drivers that were affected by the first lap crash were Guanyu Zhou, Esteban Ocon, George Russell, Alex Albon, and Yuki Tsunoda. While Ocon and Tsunoda were able to make their way to the pits to get repairs done to their cars, Zhou and Albon were out of the race.
The worst affected of the lot was the Chinese driver, whose car had tumbled over the barriers and rolled over multiple times at speed. Fortunately, he was extricated from his car and was seen moving with a further update on his condition yet to be confirmed. Zhou was later taken away on a stretcher for immediate medical attention.
F1's Halo invention saved another life
Looking at the impact and the way the Alfa Romeo speared through the gravel, it's safe to say that Guanyu Zhou has to thank the Halo for providing as much protection as possible.
Even on social media, many users thanked the invention for saving a second driver's life today. The invention had played its part in the F2 feature race as well earlier in the day, with F1 Halo trending on Twitter.
