FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has received a letter from the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) following the crash at the start of the British Grand Prix. Zhou Guanyu was launched into the air after a crash with Pierre Gasly and George Russell. As a result, the Chinese driver ended up sliding over 100 metres, upside down, towards a Silverstone gravel trap. To make things even worse, the incident caused him to launch over the tyre barrier and into the catch fencing, before coming to a stop on his side between the two protective barriers. Zhou was unable to simply crawl from the car, causing an immediate red flag as fears for his safety emerged. Thankfully, he was uninjured by the accident and was cleared following checks at the circuit's medical centre. However, during his slide across the tarmac, the roll hoop of the Alfa Romeo car failed, despite tough crash tests to ensure that it is able to protect drivers in such circumstances. Thankfully for Zhou, the Halo device protected him inside the cockpit.
Wurz tells Ben Sulayem: Check your inbox
Alex Wurz, president of the GPDA,has now sent the FIA an email regarding the safety issue raised by the failed roll hoop. "Check your inbox," Wurz wroteon his Twitter account as he reminded the FIA of the last time a driver'sroll hoop gave way, all the way back in 1999. "Last time (as far as I remember) an F1 roll hoop collapsing was with Pedro Diniz, Nurburgring 99 (jumping over me)," he said. "This led to stricter crash tests, requested by GPDA, swiftly executed/implemented by the FIA. Dear Mister President, pls check your inbox, we got (more) work to do." The FIA have launched an internal investigation into the crash,as part of normal protocol. More safety is of course always better thanless, as the Halo has proven time and time again, but if the tests determinedfurther safety measures, it could mean that the cars become even heavier inorder to meet the changes. Martin Brundle pointed this fact out in his column for SkySports, stating : "It was alarming to see that the rollover structure had broken off altogether but these items can't be infinitely strong otherwise the car would be so heavy, and then everything both on the car and at the crash site would need to be yet stronger again creating a vicious circle. "We must lose some weight on the new 2026 cars."
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