George Russell explained his human reaction to the scary moment Zhou Guanyu became trapped upside down after his car flipped in one of the biggest Formula 1 crashes of this year.
It happened within just a few seconds of the start of the British Grand Prix, in July. One of two incidents on the straight before reaching the first corner saw Russell's car make contact with the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly, sending the Mercedes spinning into Zhou.
The Chinese racer's car immediately flipped over and skidded at high speed along the Silverstone track, then into the gravel before smashing into a tyre wall and coming to rest between the barrier and the catch fencing protecting the spectators in that grandstand.
Thankfully, Zhou escaped serious injury and later said his life had been saved by the once-controversial 'halo' safety hoop on his car. But Russell, who stopped his Mercedes in the run-off area, did not know Zhou's condition and immediately rushed to help the marshals trying to get him out of the car.
"When you see an incident like this, at the end of the day, there are only 20 Formula 1 drivers and you know how it feels inside that cockpit," Russell told Autosport. "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. 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?'
"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 what not. So, I guess that was probably more of a human reaction as opposed to a racing driver reaction."
When he was eventually extracted from his Alfa Romeo, Zhou was taken to the track's medical centre to be fully checked over. He did not return to the track when the race got under way again, given the extensive damage to his car, though he was declared fit to race in Austria the following weekend.
In a social media post, Zhou told fans : "I'm okay, all clear. Halo saved me today. Thank you all for the kind messages. I want to thank the marshals and the medical team at Silverstone, they were really fantastic. I'm keener than ever to get back on track."
