George Russell recalls 'life or death' decision after 'horrifying' F1 crash

George Russell has recalled the "life or death" question he faced after witnessing the "horrifying" crash of Zhou Guanyu at the 2022 British GP. 

In his first British GP for Mercedes, Russell was caught up in a start-line accident, where, on the hard tyres, he was away and made contact with Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri. 

This in turn tipped him into Zhou's Alfa Romeo, which flipped upside down, flew across the gravel trap before vaulting the tyre barrier, coming to rest trapped up against it and the catch-fencing. 

Fortunately, the Chinese racer was uninjured, but in the aftermath of the accident, Russell, who retired on the spot with damage of his own, clambered from his W13 machine and ran across the gravel trap to see if he could render assistance to Zhou. 

Explaining that the "racing instinct" wanted him to carry on, Russell revealed that the "human side" took over as he decided to aid the marshals and recovery teams in extracting Zhou. 

"I remember I made a really bad start," Russell told F1.

"I was the only driver with the hard tyre starting the race, came off the line, wheels spinning, all the drivers zooming by me…

"I hit Zhou, and the next thing he’s spinning around and cartwheeling through the gravel. 

"It was probably the most horrifying incident I’d ever seen from the cockpit.

"I saw he was stuck behind the barriers, so it was a split… I think the racing instinct in me was like: 'I need to carry on here,' and then I guess the human side came in. 

"It kind of felt like life or death at that moment. I couldn’t imagine what he must have felt. 

"I knew what I had to do."