Zhou looks back on his Silverstone accident: “I didn’t know where I was anymore”

Even several days later, the images still send shivers down your spine. The spectacular accident of Guanyu-Zhou, at the first corner of the British Grand Prix, will remain one of the strong images of the season. The main interested party recounted how he experienced it from the inside, on the sidelines of the Austrian Grand Prix. The pilot Alfa Romeo went over the details and his reflexes after the collision.

“When the rollover happened, the first thing I tried to do was get my hand off the wheel. You never know, you can break your hand quite easily in an accident like that, explained the Chinese pilot. I knew I would face a massive impact because the car wouldn't stop... So the first thing I tried to do was get stuck in this position which is the safest possible. I braced myself for impact. I held my hands back while keeping them a little tense so they wouldn't fly all over the place upon impact. »

Zhou: “I felt a leak. I didn't know if it was my body or the car..."

After overturning, the car slid onto its roof before crashing against the fence, behind the wall of tires. Guanyu Zhou was totally disoriented after the shock. “I was actually just waiting to stop, and once I did, I didn't know where I was. I was upside down and the first thing I felt was that there was a leak. I didn't know if it was from my body or the car. So I tried to turn off the engine since it was still on at the time. I knew that if the fire caught, it would be difficult to get out. » After several minutes stuck in his cockpit, the Alfa Romeo driver was finally able to escape thanks to the intervention of the marshals. 

Immediately evacuated to the medical center, Guanyu Zhou emerged completely unscathed from this major accident. The Chinese has received the green light to participate in the Austrian Grand Prix from the FIA. The rookie admitted that the first thing he thought about after his accident was whether he could get back behind the wheel for Spielberg. “Honestly, on Sunday evening I was texting my engineers asking if my seat was in good shape. For drivers, seats are very important for comfort and I didn't want to change it. » 

The ex-Uni-Virtuosi pilot in F2 said he was relieved that Austria arrived right after his accident. “I'm quite happy to have a race this weekend. If there had been a summer break right after, it would have been terrible because I would have asked myself a lot of questions..."

ALSO READ > Zhou eager to get back behind the wheel in Austria: “Silverstone is in the past”