F1's halo 'saved two lives' at Silverstone | Drivers hail crash safety

Carlos Sainz has hailed the halo protection device after a dramatic day at Silverstone, claiming it "saved two lives" following Zhou Guanyu's big crash in the F1 race and Dennis Hauger and Roy Nissany's F2 collision.

There were two harrowing crashes on Sunday at the British GP.

At the start of the F1 showpiece, Zhou's Alfa Romeo was flipped upside down at 160mph at the first bend before skidding across the gravel and over the tyre barrier, into the catch fencing.

Earlier in F2 support race, Hauger's car landed on top of Nissany's.

Incredibly, all drivers involved were uninjured, but both the incidents could have killed drivers without the halo, which sits on top of the cockpits and was first brought onto cars - to much criticism over aesthetics - in 2018.

"We sometimes criticise the FIA [F1's governing body] but you need to give it to them, how much they've been helping us," said Ferrari driver Sainz, the eventual British GP winner. "They've saved probably two lives.

"We need to give it to them, [for] the amazing work in safety."

Zhou's car ended up lodged on its side near spectators but he was conscious throughout the crash before he was stretchered to hospital, where he was given the all-clear. He returned to the paddock later on Sunday.

"When I saw it, I was completely shocked," explained Sainz. "It was incredible. The fact he came out of it... is crazy. I find it incredible that you can come out of it."

Zhou also posted on social media on Thursday that the halo 'saved me'.

The halo has been credited with saving many other lives, with Lewis Hamilton praising it after his crash with Max Verstappen at the 2021 Italian GP, and Charles Leclerc following the carnage at the start of the Belgian GP in 2018.

Zhou was hit by