George Russell wants Formula 1 to adopt an automatic safety car system after he was left fearing for his life during the Australian Grand Prix.
He crashed out of that Melbourne race late on as he tried to chase down Fernando Alonso ahead. He lost control of his Mercedes which smashed into a wall and came to rest on its side back in the middle of the track.
A harrowing radio message from the Briton to his team made it clear how scared he was. He begged for a red flag, terrified that he was a sitting duck on the exit of a high-speed corner where visibility was limited.
The race was not stopped and it was a few seconds before the virtual safety car system turned on. By that point, Russell had already been passed by Lance Stroll who, thankfully, was warned of the danger in time by his race engineer Ben Michell.
An impact may well have been fatal. In recent years, Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert and FRECA racer Dilano van't Hoff were both killed after their stricken cars were hit at high speed by another car after crashing in a separate incident, both at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
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Having feared a similar outcome while trapped in the cockpit of his W15 at Albert Park, Russell wants changes to be made to the safety car procedure. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association director said: "It was an incredibly uncomfortable position to be in.
"You're on a blind bend, [where cars approach at] 250 kilometres per hour, right on the racing line with the car half upside down, waiting for disaster to happen. Fortunately, I had a 10-second gap behind me and I think it was 10 or 12 seconds before the virtual safety car came out.
"But in the space of 10 seconds, you can have five, six, seven cars if that was on lap one of the race and [I would've] probably been hit numerous times, even with the yellow flag. We've seen close incidents before where a car comes back [onto the track after a crash] - Carlos [Sainz] in 2022 in Japan.
"I think we need to find a way that if a car is in a danger zone, [there could be an] automated VSC straight away within half a second or so because those seconds count. Lives are at risk. We've seen it at Spa numerous times in the past, [with] cars aquaplaning. I think it's time with the technology that we have to make steps in this area."
The corner where Russell crashed could undergo changes as a result of this incident. Several drivers have called for improved safety, including Aussie racer Daniel Ricciardo who described it as "an amazing corner" but conceded "the safety of it is bad".
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