Carlos Sainz takes his first F1 win at a chaotic British GP

Carlos Sainz secured his maiden Formula 1 win at the British Grand Prix, part one of Sunday’s race red flagged after a horror crash for Zhou Guanyu.

From red flags to protestors to a reformed grid, bodywork damage and a Safety Car, the 52-lap British Grand Prix had a bit of everything.

But the most important part was that Zhou was said to be okay after his race ended when his Alfa Romeo went flying off the circuit upside down before the gravel at Abbey launched it over the tyre barrier and into the catch fencing.

Alex Albon, also involved in the opening lap crash, was taken to a local hospital for further checks but was soon released back to the paddock.

Part Two of the grand prix saw a reset of the qualifying grid, Sainz given a shot at redemption.

Despite team orders from Ferrari and a seemingly faster Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard made the most of a late Safety Car – and a mistake from his team-mate – to regain the lead which he held through to the chequered flag.

He took his first win ahead of Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.

CARLOS SAINZ IS A GRAND PRIX WINNER 🥳#essereFerrari 🔴 #BritishGP @CarlosSainz55 pic.twitter.com/jnAkWvCLnq

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 3, 2022

With the drivers free to make their own tyre choices, Max Verstappen surprised as he went with the soft tyres to pole-sitter Carlos Sainz’s mediums. That gave the championship leader the 7m boost to take P1 off the Ferrari.

A big accident further back had the race red flagged, George Russell, Zhou Guanyu, Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon involved with the latter two able to crawl back to the pits.

Zhou and Russell collided, the angle of the impact flipped the Alfa Romeo which went flying off the track and through the gravel at Abbey. Digging into the gravel, the car jumped the tyre barrier before crashing into the catch fencing. He was treated by the medical team, extracted from his car before being taken to the track’s medical centre. The driver was thankfully said to be okay, “conscious and no fractures”.

Albon was also treated at the medical centre, the Williams driver having taken a hard hit nose first into the concrete barrier along the pit straight. He was “transferred by helicopter to Coventry Hospital for precautionary checks following the opening lap incident” reported Williams.

That was one terrifying crash. #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/WDU7MInoiL

— Grand Prix Diary 🏁 (@GrandPrixDiary) July 3, 2022

The race restarted at…