Zhou Guanyu’s car flipped upside down and got caught behind tyre barriers in terrifying crash at 2022 British GP; Silverstone has now modified Turn One run-off area; watch every session from the British GP live on Sky Sports F1 and for free on Sky Showcase this weekend
Last Updated: 06/07/23 6:46pm
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A horrific crash in the opening lap of the 2022 British GP saw Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo flip upside down and go over the safety barriers
A horrific crash in the opening lap of the 2022 British GP saw Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo flip upside down and go over the safety barriers
Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu says he returns to Silverstone with “a bit more emotion than usual” a year on from his terrifying crash.
Zhou was involved in one of F1’s scariest accidents at last year’s British Grand Prix as his car was flipped over by contact at the start of the race, before hurtling through the gravel and then launching over the tyre barriers. It was then trapped in a small gap in front of the catch fencing and spectators.
After a nervous wait, Zhou was eventually recovered from the car and, incredibly, was cleared of any significant injuries.
The Chinese driver has not rewatched the incident since while Silverstone have made amendments to the Turn One run-off area to try and prevent a similar incident from occurring in future.
“For me even to think about what happened that day I have to proper wind back to what actually happened,” Zhou said ahead of this weekend’s race.
“At the minute it is off of my mind, it’s at the back, it’s in the past. Obviously it always feels a bit more emotion than usual coming back to Silverstone and I’m actually looking forward to it as last year was a good run before what happened on the Sunday. I like the track in general.
“Thankfully not [had dreams of the incident]. What I did was after Sunday I was in the medical centre so I had a look at what happened because somebody hit me from behind. When this happened, I know what happened to make me flip and since then I’ve never watched any video of the incident since that day until now.
“It was a huge crash, of course a scary one, but nothing really distracted me after that.”
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Craig Slater explains how Zhou’s car was flipped upside down and over the barriers during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone
What’s been changed at Turn One?
The straight-ahead gravel part in the run-off in Turn 1 has been replaced with a 40x40m asphalt section.
It was Zhou’s car digging into the gravel trap that had caused it to then flip over the tyre barriers and into the catch fencing behind.
“They’ve taken some action in terms of the run-off area for Turn One. That is the right direction for us in case something happens,” Zhou said.
Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said in April: “We’ve done a load of work this winter.
“There’s a big piece of asphalt out the front rather than the gravel.
“This is to stop them digging in. It’s the digging in bit that was the real issue there.”
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Damon Hill and Martin Brundle share what they think makes the British Grand Prix so special ahead of this weekend at Silverstone
Sky Sports F1’s live British GP schedule (all F1 sessions on Sky Showcase)
Friday July 7
8:40am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: British GP Practice One (session starts 12:30pm)
2.05pm: F3 Qualifying
3pm: F2 Qualifying
3:40pm: British GP Practice Two (session starts 4pm)
Saturday July 8
9:15am: F3 Sprint
11:15am: British GP Practice Three (session starts 11:30am)
1:10pm: F2 Sprint
2:15pm: British GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: BRITISH GP QUALIFYING
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Saturday July 8
9:15am: F3 Sprint
11:15am: British GP Practice Three (session starts 11:30am)
1:10pm: F2 Sprint
2:15pm: British GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: BRITISH GP QUALIFYING
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday July 9
8:10am: F3 Feature Race
9:50am: F2 Feature Race
11:50am: Porsche Supercup
1:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – British GP build-up
3pm: The BRITISH GRAND PRIX
5pm: Chequered Flag: British GP reaction
6pm: Ted’s Notebook
Next on the F1 calendar is the big one, Silverstone. Don’t miss the British GP live on Sky Sports from July 7-9
