F1 champion Max Verstappen has praised the “unbelievable” Loek Hartog for saving the life of a rival driver.

The 23-year-old Hartog displayed the most heroic of actions on Saturday after a horrific crash in the ChinaGT Championship at the Shanghai International Circuit.

The incident resulted in British star Ollie Millroy’s car bursting into flames, terrifyingly with no marshals or medical personnel in the close vicinity.

Young Dutchman Hartog immediately recognised the mortal danger, parked his car up and sprinted over to the fiery wreck, frantically tearing at the car in an effort to extricate the British driver before grabbing a fire extinguisher.

Hartog was able to calm the flames long enough to approach the driver’s side door and drag Millroy’s body out of the fire and out of danger.

Track personnel then arrived with fire extinguishers of their own and started spraying down the car, well over a minute after the crash.

Millroy suffered five broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken hand and finger and a bruised lung in the crash. But Hartog’s brave and selfless actions almost certainly saved his life.

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Verstappen astonished by ‘really beautiful moment’

The footage of the incident made global headlines, and another Dutch superstar in four-time F1 king Verstappen was astonished by what he had seen.

The 28-year-old Red Bull superstar, speaking at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, said: “It was unbelievable, he did an amazing job.

“I have huge respect for that. I think he wouldn’t have made it through without him. It was really a beautiful moment.”

Millroy tells Hartog ‘you saved my life’

The 36-year-old British star Millroy, despite his injuries, was later able to make an emotional post thanking Hartog for the ‘incredible act of bravery’ which may very well have saved his life.

“I am still alive tonight,” he wrote, “entirely thanks to one man. Loek Hartog stopped instantly with no flag marshalls or fire crews in sight, and risked his own life to get me out of the car.

“I don’t remember anything between 30 seconds before the crash and 1 hour after it, but I will remember his incredible act of bravery for the rest of my life. One day I will tell our three kids this story and Loek will be the biggest superhero in history in their eyes too.

“Thank you Loek. I owe you my life for your selfless act today.

Hartog modest after heroic actions

Hartog himself was modest in the wake of hundreds of fans calling him a hero for his actions, writing later on his own social media channels: “When I saw a car engulfed in a huge ball of fire in front of me, there wasn’t really a decision to be made.

“From what I could see, I naturally assumed the driver couldn’t get out on his own, so I stopped, got out and went over to the car. I never had any doubts.”

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F1 fans tuning into Friday’s FP2 session may have heard an unfamiliar voice on Max Verstappen‘s team radio.

The Dutchman sat out FP1 in favour of Ayumu Iwasa earlier in the day, and when he climbed back into his car for FP2, it wasn’t the familiar voice of Gianpiero Lambiase going back and forth with him on the radio.

In fact, it was the voice of performance engineer Tom Hart, who had been linked with a move away from the team earlier in the year but now appears to be sticking around – possibly tempted by the possibility of filling Lambiase’s shoes.

Hart is expected to take over some of Lambiase’s duties with the team once Verstappen’s long-time race engineer leaves for McLaren, where he’s set to start work in 2028. While the team haven’t confirmed a timeline for a full handover of his duties, it seems likely that Hart will be the man in the chair for the four-time world champion full-time next season.

While he’s expected to make further appearances on the radio this season, Lambiase is now back in for the rest of the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

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Lambiase exit prompting major Red Bull reshuffle

It was confirmed this week that Tom McCullough will leave Aston Martin at the end of the year to join Red Bull as their Head of Racing for 2027, a position that Lambiase currently holds alongside his work with Verstappen.

The expectation is that Lambaise’s two roles in the team will be split between McCullough and Hart, with the latter taking up the mantle of Verstappen’s race engineer.

Ted Kravitz discussed the situation on Sky Sports during the session, explaining: “Just to confirm, GP Lambiase is here this weekend, so he is still in charge of Max Verstappen’s engineering team. But that’s Tom Hart on the radio.

“So he was Verstappen’s performance engineer for a long time, has been for a few years. He was going to go to Williams, I believe.

“Tom Hart was going to go to Williams to engineer Alex Albon, but like another engineer, like maybe some more people at Red Bull, has been persuaded to stay with Red Bull Racing. So maybe it’ll be Tom Hart who takes over eventually from GP Lambiase as Max Verstappen’s engineer. He’s engineering him in this session.”

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Ferrari F1 legend Jean Alesi has tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in Italy just days before this week’s Italian GP action kicks off at Monza.

Alesi had a strong career in the sport, making his F1 debut in 1989 with Tyrell before going on to join Ferrari in 1991, where he would spend the next five seasons.

During that time, the Frenchman won only a single race (his only win in F1), but his 15 podiums and passionate driving style were more than enough to win over the Tifosi.

After stints at Benetton, Sauber, Prost and Jordan in the mid-to-late 90s and early 2000s, Alesi eventually retired from the sport at the end of the 2001 season, but he has been a frequent visitor to the paddock ever since.

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Jean Alesi gets married ahead of Italian GP

Whether or not Alesi will be in the paddock in Monza this weekend remains to be seen, with the Frenchman potentially away on his honeymoon after tying the knot in Italy last week.

As per Italian media outlet Corriere Della Sera, Alesi and his now-wife, Ania, were married in what has been described as an ‘intimate’ ceremony in Marina del Cantone on the Sorrentine Peninsula.

Reports suggest that roughly 100 guests attended the ceremony, including another French F1 legend and Ferrari driver, Alain Prost.

The ceremony sounds absolutely stunning, with the sea having offered a picturesque backdrop before Alesi, his wife and guests headed for lunch at a historic restaurant.

Alesi shared a picture of himself and his bride on his Instagram page after the ceremony had taken place, captioning the image: “Love.”

Days later, the former Ferrari star shared another picture of himself and his wife, both all smiles as they posed on a vintage Rolls-Royce with a drink in hand.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

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