The attempted protest by a group of anti-oil activists at the British Grand Prix failed to gain significant attention as the race was already disrupted before their demonstration began.
The race was red-flagged within moments of the original start as several drivers crashed at the first corner, including Zhou Guanyu whose Alfa Romeo was launched over a tyre barrier.
While marshals at one point on the circuit responded to a major, multi-car crash, others further around the circuit were tackling a group of protesters who were trying to access the live race track.
Northamptonshire police had issued a warning two days earlier of a plan to disrupt the race. So when drivers spotted people closer to the track than they should have been, several of them realised these were not simply fans standing in the wrong place.
Fernando Alonso was one of the drivers who saw people by the track but didn’t realise what they were doing. “He didn’t know they were protesters,” said Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer. “He said there’s fans on the track. The reason I think he reported it is so that we could then report it to the FIA, which is what we did.”
Here’s what Alonso and the other drivers who spotted the protesters told their teams about them.
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Carlos Sainz Jnr
| Sainz | Ugh, what are these guys doing? Look at the spectators coming onto the track. |
Charles Leclerc
| Marcos Padros | And red flag. Red flag. |
| Leclerc | Some people are on the track, outside of turn seven. |
| Marcos Padros | Copy. |
Lando Norris
| Joseph | Red flag. Red flag. So remember, keep it positive – no overtaking. We’ll be lining up in the pit lane. |
| Norris | Everyone alright? |
| Joseph | Just checking now. |
| Norris | Oh! There’s fans on track. Down the back straight. |
| Joseph | Okay, understood. That’s separate as well, so I think it’s multiple things. |
| Norris | Yeah, there’s people on track under the bridge down to turn seven. |
| Joseph | Understood, just take every precaution. |
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Fernando Alonso
| Loos | Just stay positive on brakes, stay positive on brakes. Just checking what happened behind. |
| Alonso | It’s people on the track. I think it’s spectators, out of five. |
| Loos | Okay, copy copy. There’s also an accident, turn one. We’ve got Russell, Zhou and Albon out. And we’ve got Tsunoda and, looks like, Esteban with damage. |
Valtteri Bottas
| Chan | Okay, red flag, red flag. RS off and mode-SC. Mode Safety Car. |
| Chan | So looks like a collision between Zhou, Russell… |
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