By Steve Keating
SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) – Protesters stormed the Silverstone track after a massive opening lap crash at the British Grand Prix on Sunday brought out a red flag to halt the race.
British police had said earlier they had credible intelligence a group of protesters were planning to disrupt the Grand Prix.
While the race had been red-flagged cars were still on the track slowly making their way to the pit lane as marshals and police wrestled with protesters, dragging them from the circuit as the crowd could be heard booing.
It was not immediately clear what the track invaders were protesting.
“We can confirm that after the red flag, several people attempted to enter the track,” Formula One said in a statement. “These people were immediately removed and the matter is now being dealt with by the local authorities.”
The opening lap collision left the Alfa Romeo of Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou wedged between the tyre barrier and catch fence.
The governing FIA said emergency crews were quickly on the scene to extract Zhou, whose car skidded upside down along the track at speed before flipping over the barriers.
The rookie remained conscious and was taken to the medical centre for further evaluation along with Williams’ Alexander Albon.
With a about 140,0000 spectators descending on the circuit 90 minutes outside London, the race is one of the British summer’s sporting highlights and has in the past been a magnet for protesters.
Two years ago police arrested four people after protesters displayed a banner for climate action group Extinction Rebellion during the British Grand Prix.
The race was closed to spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2003, the British Grand Prix was the scene of one of Formula One’s most bizarre and infamous protests when a man dressed in a kilt ran onto the track waving a banner “Read the Bible, the Bible is always right”, causing the speeding cars to swerve around him.
The man was wrestled to the ground by marshals before being arrested.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Silverstone, Editing by Ed Osmond)
