Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg says he had a “serious code brown” moment when faced with the stricken Williams of Alex Albon at the Australian Grand Prix.
Albon crashed on lap six of the race at the high speed turn six, hitting the tyre barrier and bouncing back onto the circuit.
He scattered debris and gravel across the track, forcing officials to call for the first of three red flags that punctuated the race, the first time in F1 history a race has been stopped three times.
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Following circuit modifications that were made during the COVID-19 pandemic, turn six is taken at about 220 km/h.
“Holy moly, I mean seriously I had a code brown in that moment,” Hulkenberg said.
“That was seriously scary. I mean, thank God nothing happened. But this is a nightmare scenario. You’ve come around a blind corner in a street circuit.
“That was seriously scary and sketchy. That’s a bad example of a driver losing the car, crashing and coming back onto the track, and because there’s a gravel trap, there was dust, so you could not really see much.
Hulkenberg was just seconds behind Albon on the track when the accident occurred, meaning there was no time for any warning.
“I think Pierre (Gasly) was in front of me, he was the first car, I was the second car, and no marshal in the world can react that fast,” he said.
“We didn’t have yellow flags, I just saw the cloud of dust and I saw gravel flying around, so I sort of didn’t take the ideal or normal racing line, I went a bit wider.
“I think I still didn’t miss him by much though, I immediately shouted on the radio that we need a safety car and that it was a dangerous situation.”
Hulkenberg went on to finish the race in seventh spot, sandwiched between the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
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