British racing driver survives terrifying fireball crash after rival risks his life to pull him from burning Ferrari

British racing driver Ollie Millroy has credited fellow racer Loek Hartog with saving his life after a horrifying crash turned his Ferrari into a blazing fireball during a China GT event.

Millroy, 36, was competing at the Shanghai International Circuit when two cars collided and spun into his Ferrari. The impact instantly sent the car up in flames, leaving the British driver trapped inside the burning wreck.

But before fire crews or track marshals could reach him, 23-year-old Dutch driver Hartog stopped his car and immediately rushed toward the wreck.

Footage from Hartog’s vehicle shows him desperately attempting to reach Millroy as flames engulfed the rear of the Ferrari. When he could not get to the driver, Hartog ran to retrieve a fire extinguisher and began fighting the flames in an effort to keep Millroy alive.

Additional track staff soon arrived, and together with Hartog, they managed to pull Millroy from the wreck and move him to safety.

Millroy was left with serious injuries and later revealed that he could remember almost nothing about the incident. He said he had no memory of the 30 seconds before the crash until around an hour afterwards.

Despite the severity of his injuries, Millroy said he was alive because Hartog had acted without hesitation.

Medics soon arrived to treat Millroy’s considerable injuries Credit: X

“I am still alive tonight, entirely thanks to one man,” Millroy wrote in an emotional statement. He praised Hartog for stopping immediately when there were no flag marshals or fire crews in sight and for risking his own life to get him out of the car.

Millroy suffered five broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken hand and finger, as well as a bruised lung. After being taken to hospital, doctors discovered another broken rib that he had not initially realised was injured, along with a partially collapsed lung.

He was preparing to undergo several operations before spending a few weeks recovering in Shanghai.

Millroy also thanked Ferrari for building a car capable of withstanding such a severe impact, while expressing his sadness for his AAI Motorsports crew and teammate Chen Yin Yu after the crash destroyed their “rocket ship.”

Despite everything he had endured, Millroy ended his message with a determined promise: “Rebuild, recover and then back on the horse.”

Hartog later spoke about the rescue, insisting that he did not see his actions as anything extraordinary.

He said that when he saw a car turn into “a huge fireball” ahead of him, he immediately believed the driver might not be able to escape alone. He stopped, got out and headed toward the wreck without hesitation.

Hartog admitted the situation was frightening and said there were moments when he was unsure whether he would actually be able to get Millroy out.

But for Millroy and his family, there is no doubt about the significance of what happened.

Millroy’s wife, Fern, travelled to Shanghai to be with him in hospital after watching the terrifying ordeal from overseas. She thanked everyone who had supported the family and singled out Hartog for special praise.

She said their family had been “on the brink of being altered forever” — and that Hartog had saved not only her husband, but their family as well.

For Millroy, the crash could have ended very differently. Instead, he survived a burning wreck, faces a long road to recovery, and will forever remember the rival who stopped when every second counted.