F1 drivers caught on team radio slamming protestors who invaded British Grand Prix track

F1 preview: A lap of the British Grand Prix

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Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas were among the drivers left stunned by protestors who stormed the track at the British Grand Prix. The protestors made their way onto the track down the Wellington Straight moments after the race started.

People gained entry to the circuit and appeared to sit down on the tarmac as the cars hurtled towards the straight. However, the Grand Prix had already been red-flagged after a horrific start-line crash involving Guanyu Zhou in the Alfa Romeo.

The accident probably prevented a bigger incident as drivers would have had to swerve to avoid hitting the protestors. Inevitably, drivers took to the team radio moments after seeing the spectators on the circuit, criticising them for putting themselves at risk.

However, the messages were jumbled among the confusion as drivers gave off contradicting views on where the protestors were standing. Eventual race winner Carlos Sainz appeared to be most shocked at seeing the protestors, blasting them for storming the circuit.

british grand prix

He said: “Ah what are these guys doing! These spectators coming on the track. There was some spectators coming on the track before turn six.”

Valtteri Bottas also appeared unimpressed, shouting down the microphone to his race engineer as he saw the incident unfold. The Finn bellowed: “There’s some people on track here where I’m now so really strange. On the left side, some protestors or something.”

Charles Leclerc took a more surprised tone, adding: “Some people are on the track outside of turn seven.” Fernando Alonso also addressed the issue, commenting: “There’s people on the track. I think it’s spectators out of [turn] five.”

Marshals eventually got to the protestors and dragged them off the circuit before the race was restarted.

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Last night, Northamptonshire Police confirmed seven people had been arrested following the incident. Chief Inspector Tom Thompson said: “I’m really disappointed that this group of people ignored our warnings prior to race-day and made the incredibly dangerous decision to enter the track.

“We offered to facilitate a peaceful event at the circuit but they instead chose to put the lives of the drivers, marshals and volunteers at risk. It is incredibly disappointing that anyone would make the decision to do this. Thankfully we had plans in place for an eventuality such as this and the group were swiftly removed and arrested by our officers.”

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