Monster Three-Car Crash in FIA Formula 3 Ends the Race Prematurely

The incident happened with just seven minutes left in the race, but it was serious enough to warrant its immediate termination. The three drivers involved were Ryan Tveter, Peter Li Zhi Cong, and Pedro Piquet, with the former two going straight to the hospital after the incident.

Tveter was taken as a precautionary measure, but Li Zhi Cong was reportedly unconscious for a while on the track and was airlifted to the emergency unit with fears of head and back injuries. It was later shown that he indeed suffered from four fractured vertebrae, but they won't require surgery.

It appeared like Ryan Tveter went too fast in a left-hand turn and couldn't keep his car on the track. He grazed the grass and then hit the gravel trap, which was supposed to stop his car. Instead, he managed to make his way back to the racing surface, only by that time, his incursion into the scenery had raised a big cloud of dust that masked his stationary car completely from those coming from behind.

The unlucky driver whose trajectory happened to cross with Tveter's car was Li Zhi Cong, who was just moments ahead of Pedro Piquet. Cong hit Tveter's car flush and then took off, climbing several feet in the air before crashing back down. Piquet would have been able to avoid Tveter's car had it not been moved to the side by the initial impact, so he too ended on the sideline.

The race director immediately suspended the race, which proved to be the right call. The amplitude and severity of the crash made it impossible to continue, so Callum Ilott was declared the winner. However, you can imagine everyone was more worried about Li Zhi Cong's condition at that time, as the gravity of his injuries was not known.