Hamilton: 'Thank God Charlie Whiting kept fighting for the halo'.

Lewis Hamilton is paying tribute to F1 race director Charlie Whiting, who died in 2019, after the hair-raising crash at the start of the race at Silverstone. Hamilton is grateful for the good ending to the crash and is still extremely excited about the race in his home country and the event.

The race began on Sunday with a particularly severe crash that saw Guanyu Zhou slide dozens of metres upside down across the tarmac. Without a halo, there is a very good chance that the Alfa Romeo F1 driver would not have survived. Speaking to Sky Sports, Hamilton takes the time to reflect on what the halo has already prevented. "Thank God the halo is there and that Charlie kept fighting for it. It saved my life and the lives of so many others, but we need to do more. If the car was in flames, for example, it would be a very different scenario."

Last year in Italy, the Briton found himself in a crash with then-title rival Max Verstappen. In the first chicane on the Monza circuit, the Dutchman's Red Bull flew over Hamilton's Mercedes, with Verstappen's rear wheel hitting Hamilton's head. The halo prevented the car from sagging further on his head.

Hamilton has waxed lyrical about the British GP and the support of his countrymen all weekend at Silverstone and is also talking about the good atmosphere in the run up to the Austrian GP: "The crowd was unbelievable. It was a great experience. You can really hear the cheering, everyone has so much passion. It is good to have these positive events that make us stop thinking about what is happening in the world. Jeez, it's not just in the UK, but all governments don't do well and disappoint people."