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.
Luckily, Stroll was in the car following them on the track, and his race engineer Ben Michell promptly responded to the danger.
The warning from Michell to the Canadian driver was not shown on TV, but it could be heard over the radio as Stroll approached turn six, where Russell’s damaged Mercedes was located. Michell’s initial message was about a yellow warning sign ahead due to Russell going off Turn 6.
The need for a more urgent warning was realized, and Michell conveyed that there was danger with Russell on the track. He emphasized the need to be cautious multiple times.
Fortunately, Stroll understood the situation and reduced his speed to safely overtake the Mercedes. Inquiring about the other driver’s condition, he asked, “Is he alright?”, but Michell couldn’t immediately respond.
Shortly after, Russell contacted his team to inform them that he was not injured. “It turned out to be Michell’s final important guidance to Stroll in his role as a race engineer.
The Melbourne race marked the end of their collaboration in that role, following a three-year period, as the engineer has been elevated to head of performance optimization at Aston Martin.” Russell’s accident caused Stroll to advance and secure the seventh position during the race, following his teammate Alonso.
However, Alonso received a penalty after the race for his involvement in the crash, allowing Stroll to claim sixth place and achieve his best result since the previous year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Andrew Vizard has been appointed as the new race engineer for the Canadian team starting from the next event in Japan.
He has experience working with Williams in the past and has already familiarized himself with the best ways to collaborate with the team. Vizard served as Stroll’s race engineer during the first practice session at the Saudi Arabia race last month.
“I believe the transition won’t be too challenging because Andrew has been getting ready for it, attending races and visiting the factory,” Stroll commented. He added, “I anticipate it going smoothly.
However, I have also cherished the enjoyable moments with Ben over the last few years.”