EXCLUSIVE
risk
Zhou Guanyu and Formula 2 crashes show ‘something needs to happen’, says Valtteri Bottas, who praises life-saving halo but expresses safety concerns over ‘sausage kerbs’ and barriers
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas says ‘something needs to happen’ after two horrendous crashes at the British Grand Prix.
Sunday’s Formula 1 race was red flagged after the first corner when Bottas’ teammate Zhou Guanyu flipped onto the roof of his car before flipping over the barriers and getting terrifyingly lodged behind the tyre wall.
4
4
Thankfully, Zhou was soon declared conscious, and was later seen back in the paddock with a smile after being checked over by the medical department.
Recalling the incident, Bottas told talkSPORT: “I only saw once he was upside down and landed for the first time and sliding and then I was past it so I didn’t see all of that.
“Obviously you need to get on with it and luckily I was quite quickly messaged that he was fine, so that helps.â€
Unfortunately that wasn’t the only near-miss at Silverstone, with the morning’s Formula 2 race seeing Dennis Hauger go off track and be fired up towards Roy Nissany’s head.
Nissany was saved by the ‘halo’ protective device around the cockpit, much like Zhou, but Bottas still thinks the FIA can do more to stop incidents like the one that occured in F2.
The Finn put the incident down to ‘sausage kerbs’ which he has long campaigned against, with their impact seen as one acted like a ramp to launch Hauger’s car into the air.
4
Most read in Sport
Speaking about the potential removal of the kerbs Bottas told journalists: “I hope so.
“Track limits are track limits and they don’t need to be made with sausage kerbs.
“There’s a white line and it works in other places so I don’t see the point for that, but I think the drivers’ meeting will be quite long next weekend.
“The thing is something needs to happen, like we saw this morning, I hope something will be triggered.â€
4
The former Mercedes driver also praised the role of the halo, for both the F2 incident and that with his teammate Zhou, but admitted some concern with the space that he got lodged in.
He added: “I would agree and I think everyone would agree, [the halo is] a great thing that we have and the safety in general.
“Initially I thought it was a safety thing that there was a gap for the barrier to move, but it shouldn’t happen because he was lodged in there, if there was a fire…
“For us the main positive thing is that my teammate is fine.â€
Topics