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Russell explains what led to 'incredibly scary' Zhou crash

George Russell's British Grand Prix ended abruptly after he was involved in a first-lap incident with Zhou Guanyu. The Mercedes driver has given his take on what happened.

George Russell has explained what led to his difficult start at the British Grand Prix, which was followed by a huge incident with Zhou Guanyu. Russell had a poor start off the line from P8 on the grid, and Pierre Gasly tried to go for a gap between Russell and Zhou. There was contact between Russell and Gasly, and the Mercedes then spun into Zhou. Zhou's car flipped over and went into the barriers at high-speed. The Alfa Romeo bounced over the tyre barrier, and became lodged between the barrier and the circuit's catch fencing. Fortunately, after being taken to the medical centre, Zhou was later confirmed to be okay.

Russell reflects on events leading to "scary" incident

Following the incident – which led to the race being red-flagged for almost an hour – Russell was seen running from his car to check on Zhou. Afterwards, the Briton felt that his car could still continue in the Grand Prix, but he was prevented from doing so. Despite his disappointment over this, Russell's main concern was learning that Zhou was okay. "[I'm] glad to see that Zhou is okay," Russell told Viaplay . "Obviously, [it was] an incredibly scary crash and [something you] never like to see. "We took a risk starting on the Hard tyre, and there was just no grip at all and we knew that was a factor. I was just so slow off the line. Next thing I know, I got hit from behind into Zhou and that was game over. "It's good to see that he's okay, [it was a] scary incident. "I think it's a little bit frustrating [that I couldn't continue in the race]. I jumped out to see if he was okay and I came back. I couldn't get the car started, but I think the car was okay to continue. "But, anyway, just glad to see he's okay."

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