The Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) admitted this afternoon, once he left with the medical discharge the Coventry Hospital where he was hospitalized for a few hours, that the halo “saved his life”, after the spectacular accident he suffered at the Silverstone racetrack, at the start of the British Grand Prix of Formula 1. The halo saved my life, without hesitation. That shows that every step we take to improve our cars has real and valuable results,” the 23-year-old said in a press release issued by the Italian team.
Zhou was the protagonist of an accident at the start of the competition, when he touched with the British George Russell (Mercedes) and continued along with his car turned for several meters. The Alfa Romeo jumped a first tire containment and crashed into the guard-rail.
”
The stewards and the track medical team were fantastic with their quick response. I must also thank the FIA and Formula 1 for all the work they have done,” the Shanghai native added.
The halo is a safety mechanism used in
single-seaters
that protects the cockpit in which the pilot sits from possible blows from external blunt objects. It was implemented in the top automotive category in 2018 and its effectiveness is notorious.
Previously he avoided major setbacks in incidents that had Romain Grosjean or Lewis Hamilton as protagonists, for example.
After being declared fit by the medical team of
FIA
, the Alfa Romeo driver has already made clear his intention to run the next race in the Red
Bull
Ring
of
Spielberg
, in Austria, next Sunday.
”
I’m looking forward than ever to get back on track and do what I love: I’m fit and I’m looking forward to getting to Austria next week,” Zhou said.
On the other hand, the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams), who also had a crash at the start, was also discharged from Coventry Hospital, after a strong blow to the right forearm.
