Zhou Guanyu In Horror Crash At British Grand Prix As Car Flipped On Chaotic Opening Lap

There were dramatic scenes on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix as multiple cars were involved in a huge crash that forced a red flag to be shown. Watch the video below:

Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu's car was flipped upside down during the collision on the opening corner of the race.

His car slid towards the barriers before colliding with the tyre wall and flipping over with the Chinese driver trapped inside.

Images emerged of his car stuck between the tyre wall and a perimeter fence.

After several worrying minutes, Zhou was removed from the car and taken from the track on a stretcher.

The crash came about after Mercedes driver George Russell appeared to be slightly clipped by Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly.

That collision forced Russell's car into the path of Zhou, causing the Alfa Romeo to flip over and collide with the barriers.

After his own car had come to a halt, Russell immediately jumped out and sprinted in the direction of Zhou's vehicle, seemingly to help the rescue effort.

Both Zhou and Russell were forced to retire from the race along with Williams' Alex Albon, who was also caught up in the chaos.

Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, released a statement confirming Zhou and Albon were both conscious after the crash and were being treated at a medical centre.

"Both Zhou and Albon have been taken to the medical centre. Both drivers were conscious and will be evaluated at the medical centre," read the statement.

At the front of the grid, Championship leader Max Verstappen had managed to overtake Carlos Sainz on the opening corner, while Lewis Hamilton had moved from fifth to third.

But the controversial decision was later taken to restart the race with the original grid order, with Ferrari's Sainz resuming the race from pole position.

Fans were quick to praise halo crash-protection system on Zhou's car, which may have saved his life.

"It's a miracle that Zhou Guanyu escaped his Alfa Romeo alive. Thank god for the halo," posted one fan on Twitter.

Another wrote: "Thank God for the halo for the F1 and F2 cars. 2 lives were definitely saved today because of it", the fan referencing another crash that occurred during an F2 race at Silverstone earlier in the day.

Russell later posted on Twitter: "First of all, the most important thing is that Zhou is ok. That was a scary incident and all credit to the marshals and medical team for their quick response.

"Obviously gutted to end the race this way and I'm sorry for the team and the fans.

"Cheering LH on from the garage."