Guanyu Zhou thanks Silverstone medical team and marshals after horrific crash in British Grand Prix

The Chinese rookie driver added that he is ‘keener than ever to get back on track’ with the Austrian Grand Prix meet starting on Friday

Guanyu Zhou has paid tribute to the medical staff and marshals at Silverstone who helped with his extraction from his stricken Alfa Romeo following his nasty crash at the British Grand Prix.

The Chinese rookie driver, competing in only his 10th Formula 1 race, was turned upside-down after clashing with George Russell at turn one of the first lap and flew into the perimeter fence beyond the tyre barrier.

The marshals and medical team on-site were quick to react, with Zhou left trapped in the car, extracting him before placing the 23-year-old on a stretcher.

Zhou tweeted shortly afterwards to say that the halo device - introduced in 2018 to protect the drivers while in the cockpit - saved his life and emphasised his gratitude to the Silverstone staff for their ‘fantastic’ work.

He tweeted: “Hi everyone! Thank you all for the kind messages. I want to thank the marshals and the medical team at Silverstone, they were really fantastic. I’m keener than ever to get back on track, see you guys in Austria!”

The Austrian Grand Prix weekend starts on Friday with first practice and qualifying.

The F1 rookie crashed while approaching 160mph at Abbey corner when Russell made contact with the rear of Zhou’s car, which saw him launch onto his roof and slide out of control.

Russell, whose car was damaged, jumped out of the car when the red flag was thrown and dashed over to check on Zhou’s condition.

The marshals and medical team on-site were quick to react, with Zhou left trapped in the car (AFP via Getty Images)

“I’m glad to see Zhou okay. It was an horrific incident,” Russell told Sky Sports.

The Mercedes driver, who was not permitted to restart the race, added: “I jumped out of the car to see that Zhou was ok. When got back to car I couldn’t restart it. As soon as you get outside assistance you cannot restart the race.”

An FIA spokesperson said: “Two drivers involved in the incident at the start of the race were checked in the medical centre. There were no major injuries.

“The driver of car 24 (Zhou) is under observation in the medical centre. The driver of car 23 (Albon) will be transferred by helicopter to Coventry Hospital for precautionary checks.

“The driver of car 63 (Russell) was checked by medical staff and was declared fit.”

Albon has since been released from hospital.