Russell Sky Sports interview interrupted by huge car fire at Australian GP

01 April 2023 , 07:21

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George Russell during his post-race interview (Image: Sky Sports)

George Russell paused a Sky Sports interview after spotting a huge blaze break out on a car in a support race in Melbourne.

The Brit was speaking to the cameras after qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. He secured an excellent result in that session by going second fastest and was understandably a very happy man after jogging down to the press area.

But his train of thought was interrupted as he spotted a large fire break out in the pit lane on the TV screens. It happened at the start of the Supercars event which was taking place on the track after the conclusion of Formula 1 qualifying.

While entering the pit lane, James Courtney's front left wheel caught fire and, by the time he had come to the stop the flames had engulfed the car. Marshals scrambled to put out the blaze and, fortunately, the driver was able to escape unscathed.

Russell spotted it on the TV screens and stopped his interview as he turned to watch what was going on. "Oh bugger," said the Mercedes racer, before making sure the driver was okay before continuing the interview.

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Reacting to qualifying second on the grid, the Brit said: "It was really unexpected. The car felt alive and we got the tyres in the right window. The team have been doing an amazing job to get the most out of this car.

A large fire broke out in the pit lane during a Supercars event (Fox Motorsport)

"We haven't had any upgrades since Bahrain but we've seen the progress we've made compared to the first two races. That's really exciting because we know we've got more in the locker to come and I'm feeling really comfortably in the car, really happy with the feeling."

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was also very happy with third place, adding: "George did a fantastic job there today and for us to be up there on the two front rows is honestly a dream for us. We're all working as hard as we can to get right back up the front so to be this close to the Red Bull is honestly incredible.

"We hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money, and hope the weather is good. The second lap wasn't as good as the first one. I did get a little bit further ahead in the last sector but ultimately I lost out a little bit in the beginning. But I'm not disappointed – I'm super grateful for this position and I'm going to work as hard as I can to move forward tomorrow."

Daniel Moxon