New Footage Shows Just How Frightening Zhou Guanyu's British Grand Prix Crash Was

The opening lap at Silverstone featured an accident that forced a red flag being shown following the dramatic and terrifying scenes.

Mercedes driver George Russell appeared to be clipped by Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly and that led to a collision with Zhou, whose car flipped over completely and struck the barriers as sparks flew.

And an alternative angle filmed from the stands showed just how scary the crash really was, as Zhou's car spun out of control and into the barriers, with some spectators hurrying away as the vehicle flew towards them.

He ended up trapped between the tyre wall and a fence for a number of minutes and there was immediate concern for Zhou, with Russell jumping out of his car to head straight over to the Chinese driver.

No replays were shown on Sky Sports' coverage to begin with but fortunately it was then confirmed that Zhou, although in need of a stretcher, was conscious and moving.

Both he and Alex Albon of Williams Racing were taken to the medical centre for evaluation, FIA confirmed in a statement.

The pair, along with Russell, were forced to retire from the race.

Alfa Romeo did then issue a promising update to fans, confirming that Zhou was communicating and did not suffer any fractures in the crash.

As per Chris Medland, Zhou was later released from the medical centre.

Shortly after the red flag, protesters made their way onto the track - with the FIA revealing the individuals were "immediately removed".

The race did restart with the original grid order, which meant that Carlos Sainz was back in pole position despite being overtaken by reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull on the opening corner.

Reflecting on the crash, Russell took to Twitter to write: "Obviously gutted to end the race this way and I'm sorry for the team and the fans.

"Cheering LH on from the garage."