Mercedes junior driver Paul Aron was involved in a scary crash at the Macau Grand Prix which saw his car split in half and burst into flames.
On lap eight, Aron crashed into the barriers and was lucky to escape from the wreckage unharmed. The Grand Prix, which is part of the Formula 3 World Cup, was suspended for around an hour as the barriers were repaired and Aron revealed after the race that he thought he had been set on fire.
"I had a very small brush with the wall at the corner before the hairpin but, after that, the car felt fine, so I kept going," Aron told Autosport. "On the next lap, going into the fast bit of the track, my right rear toe-link failed and I went straight into the wall.
"After the crash, I was quite confused. I didn't know what happened because the car reacted very unpredictably, which is explained by the rear toe-link. It happened so fast. And when I saw the flames, I thought I was on fire!
"I've already calmed down and I'm fine. But my main worry was my family, because I knew how it would look from the outside. They are all here, so I didn't want them to be worried.
"This is Macau, these things can happen, and sadly the failure happened at one of the fastest parts of the track and where the walls are closest." Aron admitted he felt he had to take risks to make up for the fact that his car was relatively slow on the straights.
He explained: "Already in race one we were slow in terms of straight speeds. It would have been nice to finish on the podium, but it's always difficult when you struggle with speed on the straights.
"It's an event where you go all out and, if you are missing speed on the straights, you have to try and make it up in the corners. That can be risky and, after brushing the wall, it could be why the failure happened, although I'm not sure."
Williams academy driver Luke Browning ended up winning the race once it restarted, describing the victory as "one of the biggest achievements of my career". He said: "Words can't describe this victory.
"The standard here, these incredible drivers, I'm super grateful. Thank you to the organisation, to the FIA, to Formula 3. For a young guy driving fast cars it's a dream come true. It was tight. But it's arguably one of the biggest achievements of my career."
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