Terrifying crash at Austrian Grand Prix as driver flips over cars

News.com.au

9 hours ago

A huge crash in Formula Two saw the race suspended as a driver ended up upside down on top of a rival.
The F2 Sprint Race in Spielberg, Austria, was halted after just two laps following a three-way collision at Turn 3.
With cars still largely bunched up, the tight right-hander did not offer much room for manoeuvre as drivers jostled for position, The Sun reports.
And in the midfield pack disaster struck as Sami Meguetounif was squeezed off track as he hit the right-front tyre of Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad.
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Meguetounif, 21, was forced to the right side of the track before hitting the kerb and flipping up into the air.
As the French driver was in the air he collected British racer Luke Browning, who had been turning the corner just before him.
Williams Racing academy driver Browning, 23, remarkably ended up with the Trident car directly on top of his upside down.
The momentum carried by the 755kg flying vehicle eventually saw it skid off and come to a rest upside down.
Both drivers almost certainly saw their lives saved by the halo safety devices around their heads - a crash-protection system which first came into F1 in 2018 which can withstand up to 12,000kg of force.
Fortunately, Meguetounif reported he was okay as the race was suspended and cars brought into the pit lane to clear the debris, while Browning and Lindblad all checked in with positive updates too.
After a 30-minute delay, race stewards got the race back underway under a rolling restart led by Joshua Durksen.
However, stewards were forced to take action again almost immediately after the safety car was pulled in when Dino Beganovic was left stranded following contact with Oliver Goethe, once again at Turn 3.
A final lap incident saw four cars involved in a stunning pile-up at Turn 3 once again, with a spin by Amaury Cordeel left three drivers behind him with nowhere to go except for running into him.
Cordeel had been running in 4th, and the three drivers behind who crashed into him all ended up remarkably losing out on points finishes as well.
One fan on social media comparing the race to 'bumper cars'.
Campos Racing driver Pepe Marti took the chequered flag for the race.
After initial controversy over its introduction, the halo has more than proven itself to be a worthwhile addition to open-wheel Formula racing formats.
Notable examples of its prowess include Romain Grosjean's horror crash in Bahrain in 2020 and Guanyu Zhou's terrifying high-speed flip at the British Grand Prix in 2022.
Lewis Hamilton also hailed the hardware for saving his life after a crash with Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021 during their title fight when the Dutchman's rear wheel had found its way on top of the Brit's car.
In 2023 F1 Academy driver Chloe Grant also hailed the halo system for saving her life in a horror crash that saw her car set on fire.
F1 qualifying follows the stunning events of the F2 Sprint Race.