George Russell was "thankful" for the Halo on his Williams after colliding with Antonio Giovinazzi's loose wheel in the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Briton was just about to join the battle with the Ferrari-powered teams as he an innocent casualty of the Italian losing his Alfa Romeo on the kerbs in the Fagnes chicane.
Onboard footage showed Russell break his front-right suspension on the wheel coming across the circuit which then put him into the barrier on the other side.
“Feeling unlucky and lucky right now,” he said on Twitter. “Gutted as we were having a great race."
Then recalling the accident with the media, Russell explained: "If I went to the right, that's where Antonio's car was, and at the left side of the track, I had a massive impact with the tyre.
"But I have to say you feel much safer in the car now with the halo.
"When I saw this massive tyre coming towards me, it was quite scary to be honest. So I'm very thankful that we have this halo on the car right now.
"I'm all fine. Just a little bit frustrated obviously, but that's racing sometimes."
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The proceeding safety car surprised some who thought the red flag might have been shown given the level of debris which drivers then had to pick their way through.
Thankfully there were no lasting issues with punctures, and as for the initial crash that started the entire incident, Giovinazzi, who also crashed out at Spa last year, admits he was simply caught out.
“Unfortunately I had a snap of oversteer on the exit, nothing I could do," the Alfa driver said.
"I'm just sorry for my team after what happened today, but I have to reset my mind right now for Italy.
"I feel really sorry for [Russell], as I destroyed his race as well. Really unfortunate what happened to him. I'm just sorry."
