In-car footage shows F1 drivers Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda avoiding Just Stop Oil protesters

  • The footage was released by Northamptonshire Police after the protesters were convicted

In-car footage recorded from the cockpit of a Formula 1 car shows just how close Just Stop Oil protesters came to racing drivers as they invaded the track at the British Grand Prix.

Images from the cars of F1 stars Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon was shown to the jury at the trial of six protesters who ran on to the track at Silverstone.

The footage shows the Alpha Tauri and Alpine drivers approaching the protesters after they have taken up their position on the track, and are being dragged off by track marshals.

Recordings from other angles show how the six waited until most of the cars, which were running at a lower speed because the race had been red-flagged, had passed their chosen point on the Wellington Straight, before running on to the track.

Five of the six protesters got on to the track as Yuki Tsunoda's car passed. Credit: Northamptonshire Police

Tsunoda and Ocon had become separated from other cars on the track, meaning the protesters were already on the left-hand side of the track when they passed on the right.

During the trial, the protesters said they had researched the precise spot to get on the track to minimise the risk to themselves, drivers and marshals.

Prosecutors had claimed that the group had risked “serious harm” to Formula 1 drivers and marshals during the stunt, and created a risk of death or personal injury when five of them sat down on Silverstone's Wellington Straight.

Marshals had to remove the protesters from the track. Credit: PA

Just Stop Oil members David Baldwin, 47, Emily Brocklebank, 24, Alasdair Gibson, 22, Louis McKechnie, 22, Bethany Mogie, 40, and 29-year-old Joshua Smith all denied causing a public nuisance on 3 July but were found guilty on Friday.

Brocklebank, of Yeadon, Leeds; Gibson, from Aberdeen; Mogie, from St Albans; McKechnie, from Manchester; and Smith, from Lees in Oldham, went on to the race circuit before being removed by marshals.

Baldwin, of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, was found in a car park along with glue, cable ties and a Just Stop Oil banner.

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