Unseen footage shows horrifying George Russell crash as Mercedes driver screams at team on radio

Unseen footage shows horrifying George Russell crash as Mercedes driver screams at team on radio

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Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 24/03/2024

- 10:55

The Mercedes star was lucky to avoid injury after a huge crash in Melbourne

Previously unseen footage of George Russell's crash at the Australian Grand Prix has been released following the horrifying incident on Sunday.

The video shows the Briton losing control of his car before hitting the barriers and ricocheting back into the middle of the track.


Russell was forced to retire from the race on the final lap to compound a miserable day for Mercedes which started with Lewis Hamilton suffering a DNF due to engine failure.

The younger of the two Silver Arrows drivers walked free from his car which had flipped onto its side in the closing stages in Melbourne.

George Russell

George Russell crashed late on at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday

Sky Sports

Russell was attempting to overtake Fernando Alonso in sixth place and the Spaniard, who appeared to slow down, has since been punished for his role in the incident.

Fans had to wait for on-board footage of the crash until a few hours after the race.

But it has now been released and it shows that Russell was lucky to avoid any serious injury.

Audio of the team radio can also be heard, with Russell understandably concerned about his position on the track.

The 26-year-old demanded that the red flag be shown as soon as possible to prevent any cars from coming around the corner at high speed.

Russell shouted: "Red flag, red flag, red flag. I'm in the middle of the track, red flag, red flag. Red, red, red, red, red."

He was concerned about the length of time it took for the red flag to be shown, adding: "I'm in the middle, red. Why so long?

"It's too long. Yeah I'm okay, I'm in the middle of the track half upside down."

A marshal soon arrived to help Russell out of his car, with a medical vehicle also quickly on the scene.

Alonso was questioned by some F1 pundits for potentially brake-testing Russell on turn six.

The incident was investigated by the stewards and Alonso has been hit with a 20-second time penalty and three penalty points to drop him from sixth to eighth.

The stewards declared the two-time world champion 'drove in a manner that was at very least “potentially dangerous” given the very high speed nature of that point of the track'.

Russell took some responsibility for the incident when he spoke to Sky Sports after the race.

He reserved full judgement until he saw the crash in full again. He said: "My take is I've gone off and that's on me.

"I was half a second behind Fernando 100m before the corner then suddenly he came towards me extremely quick and I was right on his gearbox. I don't know if he had a problem or not.

"We're off to the stewards and that's a bit bizarre in a circumstance like this.

George Russell

George Russell was left on his side in the middle of the track after crashing his Mercedes

Sky Sports

"I've got nothing more to say right now. I need to see everything, just disappointed to end the race like that.

"I'm not going to accuse him of anything until we see further.

"I was right behind him for many, many laps. I was half a second behind him before the corner

"Then, suddenly he slowed up dramatically and got back on the power. I wasn't expecting it and he caught me by surprise."

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