GEORGE RUSSELL SAVED BY LANCE STROLL "DANGER" SHOUT IN UNSEEN AUSTRALIAN GP FOOTAGE

George Russell may have been saved from a life-threatening smash by Lance Stroll's quick-thinking race engineer at the Australian Grand Prix.

Scary footage from the Melbourne race shows how little warning Stroll had that Russell had crashed ahead of him. The Briton had been chasing down the other Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso when he lost control of his Mercedes.

He hit a wall before the car flipped onto its side and came to rest back in the middle of the track. Russell screamed over the radio for the race to be stopped, but only yellow flags were waved before a virtual safety car period.

Fortunately for him, Stroll was in the next car on track behind them and his race engineer Ben Michell was quick to react to the peril. In footage not broadcast by TV, his warning to the Canadian racer could be heard over the radio as he approach turn six, where Russell's stricken Mercedes was lying.

"Yellow ahead, Russell off Turn 6. Yellow ahead. Yellow ahead. Yellow ahead," was Michell's first message, before it became clear that a much more clear warning was needed. He added: "Danger, he's in the track. Danger. Be careful, careful, careful."

Luckily for all involved, Stroll got the message and slowed down to pass the Mercedes safely. As he did so, he replied: "Whoa, is he okay?" to which Michell was unable to give an immediate answer. Before long, Russell contacted his own team to let them know he was unhurt.

It proved to be Michell's last significant instruction to Stroll as his race engineer. The Melbourne race was their last working together in that capacity, after a three-year stint, as the engineer has been promoted to Aston Martin's head of performance optimisation.

Russell's crash saw Stroll move up to finish seventh on the road, behind team-mate Alonso. But after the Spaniard was given a post-race penalty for his role in the incident, he inherited sixth place to mark his best result since last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

From the next event in Japan, Andrew Vizard will serve as the Canadian's new race engineer. He previously worked for Williams and they have already practiced how best to work together - Vizard was Stroll's race engineer during first practice at the Saudi Arabia race last month.

"I don't think it's so difficult, Andrew's been preparing for a while, been coming to races and spending time at the factory," Stroll said of the change. "I think it should be pretty smooth. But very nice times with Ben for the last few years, it's been enjoyable."

2024-03-28T08:50:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd