‘He’s a dead man’ Jackie Stewart admits 2022 F1 crash left him scared

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Jackie Stewart has admitted he thought Zhou Guanyu could have been killed in his horror crash at the British Grand Prix. Stewart has revealed he thought Zhou was a “dead man” while watching the race at home with his wife over the summer.

The three-time world champion thought it was not possible Zhou would walk away until he saw him exiting the car. The Scot has also praised F1 safety which he helped improve as director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) in the 1970s.

Speaking exclusively to Express Sport, Stewart explained: “We have a great sport. There’s run-off areas now. Look at the accident we had at Silverstone last year.

“I was watching that with Helen, my wife, at home and I said ‘he’s a dead man’. He couldn’t possibly be alive.

“And next minute he’s out of the car, walking. So that’s wonderful. In our day the accidents that happened, the fires that took place, nobody could get to the driver and they never stopped the race.”

Zhou’s car was flipped over moments after the start of the race after making contact with George Russell’s Mercedes. The Alfa Romeo star was dragged along the track on its roof before being propelled into the fence after striking gravel.

The car came within centimetres of spectators watching at turn one whole Zhou’s car came to a rest between the catch fence and metal barrier. The Chinese star was stuck in the car until marshals were able to extricate him from the tricky angle.

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Russell was also forced out of the race after deciding to jump out and help remove Zhou from the wreckage moments after the collision. The accident came just a year on from Max Verstappen’s high-speed crash with Lewis Hamilton at Copse corner.

After the race, Zhou also hinted he was lucky to have not lost his life in the shunt. He commented: “I don’t know how I survived. But then looking back obviously I saw the halo saved me.

“Once I stopped I didn’t know where I was because I was upside down and the next thing I felt was some leaking. I was not sure if it was from my body or from the car, so I just tried to switch the engine off. I knew if a fire started it would be difficult to get out.”

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