A British Formula 4 Championship driver had to be airlifted to a hospital after a hard and thoroughly terrifying crash Sunday, running into what appears to be a stationary car after other drivers blocked his view. Reports say it took up to two hours to extract him from the car after he sustained leg injuries in the crash.
The crash occurred in the sixth F4 race of the season at England’s Donington Park, and Billy Monger was the driver of the car moving at full speed. Monger, 17, came out of a long corner in traffic. It wasn’t until another full-speed car in front of him swerved to miss the stationary car that it came into Monger’s view, and the two made contact about two seconds after. Monger didn’t have much time to react, and the front end of his vehicle smashed into the stationary one.
Fox Sports reports that the race immediately went under red flag, and the initial reports were that the driver of the stationary car, Patrik Pasma, was OK after the impact. The reports are that Monger sustained leg injuries in the wreck, and it took officials between an hour, as reported by Fox Sports, and two hours, as reported by Motorsport, to extract him from the vehicle.
F4 released a short statement after the wreck, which reads as follows:
Monger has been carefully extracted from the car after suffering leg injuries, and has since been airlifted to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for further examination.
Pasma was also carefully extracted from his car. He was fully conscious and immediately taken to the on-site medical centre. He has since been taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre for further assessment.
Further information will be provided in due course.
The F4 event was a support race for the British Touring Car Championship weekend at Donington, and Autosport reports that the second BTCC race scheduled to take place after F4 went on as planned following the wreck.
Footage of the wreck can be found here, if you choose to watch.
Update, April 18 at 10:55 a.m. ET: There appears to be no news on Monger’s condition currently, but we are monitoring the situation. There has been no official statement from F4 or anything shared about Monger on social media, other than well wishes.
Update, April 19 at 1:25 p.m. ET: A fundraising page that appears to be started by his family and team says Monger lost both legs after the crash, and they are attempting to raise money to help him “beat life changing injuries” following the amputation.