Huge Zhou start crash and protesters red-flag British GP

The British Grand Prix entered a long red flag delay after a huge crash for Guanyu Zhou that saw him clear a barrier upside-down, and protesters storming the track.

Zhou was hit by George Russell -- who himself was tagged by Pierre Gasly - on the run to Turn 1, and the contact flipped the Alfa Romeo at high speed. Zhou’s car then dug into the gravel as it headed towards the barrier, making it flip up and over the tire barrier. The car was stopped by the catch fence but dropped the wrong side of the barrier, with Zhou becoming stuck in the car.

Further back, Sebastian Vettel tagged Alex Albon, with the Williams driver hitting the wall on the inside of the track and bouncing back into the path of Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda, making further contact.

After a long extraction, Zhou was removed from his car and taken to the medical center -- along with Albon -- for further evaluation. Both drivers were conscious and Alfa Romeo told Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas that he was “OK” over radio.

Immediately after the rest of the field had cleared the first sector, a number of protesters stormed the circuit and sat on the track. Fortunately, the red flag sent the remaining cars to the pits, with the police removing the protesters during the delay.