Charles Leclerc survives airborne collision at Belgium Formula One

Formula One driver Charles Leclerc has survived a spectacular airborne collision at the Belgium Formula One Grand Prix | WATCH

Fernando Alonso of Spain crashes with Charles Leclerc of Monaco at the start of the Formula One Grand Prix of Belgium. Picture: Getty Images.

Formula One driver Charles Leclerc, the best friend of deceased driver Jules Bianchi, who died after an horrific F1 crash four years ago, has survived his own terrifying and spectacular airborne collision at the beginning of the Belgium Formula One Grand Prix early this morning.

“I was lucky, it all happened very quick,’’ said Leclerc, admitting he didn’t realise how close he came to severe injury or worse until he had watched a replay of the incident.

Just seconds after the race start, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg missed the braking point of the first corner, shunting into Mclaren’s Fernardo Alonso who catapulted into the air and bounced on the top right hand side of Leclerc’s halo protection, landing over the other side.

WATCH: Alonso's McLaren bounces off the halo of Charles Leclerc's Sauber 😮😮😮#SkyF1 #F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/EMySUJh0ov

— Sky Sports F1 🏎 (@SkySportsF1) August 26, 2018

As Alonso’s car was ripped apart on the right hand side and the vehicle’s body parts exploded into the air, Leclerc had no idea what had hit him. But if the same accident had happened a year ago, before the mandatory introduction of the halo this season, Leclerc may very well have been seriously injured. His halo was badly damaged on the right front.

”The images speak for themselves,’’ said Leclerc.

“Without the halo I don’t know how I would have ended up, I am happy it was there.’’

Leclerc’s mother Pascale, at home in Monaco, was watching the race on television and got immediately on the phone. She was only reassured when a Sauber team physiotherapist sent pictures showing her that her son was okay.

”By the time I had spoken to her, she was a bit more calm, she was like any mother I suppose,’’ said Leclerc, who had been mentored by Bianchi. The Leclerc and Bianchi families were close friends who lived just half an hour away in Nice.

If this accident had happened a year ago, before the mandatory introduction of the halo this season, Leclerc may very well have been seriously injured. Picture: Getty Images.

Adding to the emotion of the moment was a big question mark whether the halo may have helped Bianchi survive his horrific collision with a race recovery truck during rain at the 2014 Suzuka Grand Prix. Experts say no, but the introduction of the halo was fast tracked as a result of his death, and many of the original critics of introducing such a cockpit safety device have now reversed their opinion.

”It could have been very nasty,” said Mercedes principal Toto Wolff, who had threatened to take a chainsaw to the halo back in February such was his original opposition to it.

“I’m now happy that we have the halo.”

The halo is designed to protect drivers from potentially fatal intrusion into the cockpit area by wheels, car parts and large flying debris. It is a three pronged wishbone style structure made of titanium that can withstand a mass of 116 kilonewtons of force or 11800 kgs.

This morning’s incident was the biggest test of its integrity in a race situation and thankfully illustrated that when Alonso’s car crashed onto the halo, Leclerc was able to walk away, his biggest concern to find Hulkenberg and give him a piece of his mind.

Alonso was also relieved, saying he wasn’t injured, but would wait a few hours to see how sore he feels.

”The positive side is that we all three are okay, including Charles,” Alonso said. “I flew over his car and the halo was a very good thing to have today.

“I think for him it helped, looking at the replay. I was definitely happier that I had the halo. We don’t need to prove that it’s a good thing to have.”

Alonso was scathing of the professionalism of Hulkenberg who made a basic error on the first corner. Hulkenberg admitted he had misjudged the corner and was “a bit too late on the brakes, a bit too keen’’.

Charles Leclerc waves to the crowd after the crash. Picture: Getty Images.

He was stripped of three points on his drivers licence and grid penalties for next week’s race at Monza.

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo was also a casualty of the crash, suffering rear wing damage from debris off Alonso’s car. He crashed into Vettel’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Both were eventually forced to retire as a consequence, although Red Bull fitted a new rear wing for Ricciardo to re-enter two laps down. He lasted until the 31st lap when it was clear that he couldn’t profit be staying out any longer.

Ricciardo said: “I don’t know exactly what happened at the start, but I felt a tap and to be honest I just remember sliding and the next minute I hit the back of Kimi. It was just a Turn 1 incident and apologies to Kimi if his retirement was down to me, but I’m pretty sure it all started behind me and was a chain reaction.’’

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the race and he has now closed in overall leader and this morning’s second placed Lewis Hamilton, of Mercedes, with just 17 points between them and another eight races remaining of the season.

The key moment of the race happened immediately after the heart-stopping crash, and before the yellow flag was deployed. Vettel overtook Hamilton on the Eau Rouge uphill section in what would be the most decisive move of the 44 laps.

Vettel’s victory, which showcased the straight line speed of Ferrari following an engine upgrade, has Hamilton rattled.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, much to the delight of the huge crowd of Dutch fans lining the track.

Hamilton said that the Ferrari cars had some ”tricks’’ on their cars and later elaborated that he didn’t mean they were illegal, but rather some fancy aerodynamic developments that his team didn’t have.

”They have something on their cars that's enabled them to be quicker on the straights, we just have to work harder I guess,’’ Hamilton said.