A British racing driver says he is only alive thanks to a rival who pulled him from the burning wreckage of a car.

Dutchman Loek Hartog abandoned his own vehicle during the China GT Championship race in Shanghai and doused the flames of Ollie Millroy’s Ferrari with a fire extinguisher before dragging him from the vehicle.

“I am still alive tonight, entirely thanks to one man,” Millroy said in a post on Instagram.

“Loek Hartog stopped instantly with no flag marshals or fire crews in sight, and risked his own life to get me out of the car.”

Organisers said in statement they “will further review and investigate the accident and formulate more comprehensive plans to address shortcomings in competition organisation, support, emergency response, rescue and medical services”.

Millroy’s team, AAI Motorsport, said it “will no longer participate in any races organised by China GT” in a statement that was hugely critical of safety standards at Saturday’s race and accused the organisers of negligence.

“I don’t remember anything between 30 seconds before the crash and one hour after it, but I will remember his incredible act of bravery for the rest of my life,” Millroy said.

“One day I will tell our three kids this story and Loek will be the biggest superhero in history in their eyes too.”

Millroy said he suffered five broken ribs, a broken collar bone, broken hand, broken finger and bruised lung in the crash, adding: “It could have been much worse.”

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

Replying to the post, Hartog said: “I am so thankful to have been right at the place I needed to be in space and time.”

He later wrote in his own post on Instagram: “When I saw a car turning into a huge fireball far ahead, there wasn’t really a decision to make.

“From what I had seen, I genuinely believed the driver might not be able to get out by himself. I stopped, got out and went towards the car. There was never a moment of doubt.

“It was scary. There were moments where I didn’t know I would actually be able to get Ollie out.

“But this isn’t about what I did, and I’m sure many people in the same position would have reacted exactly the same way.”

AAI Motorsport said Millroy’s car “continued to burn for more than a minute” after the accident and that “no timely and effective firefighting and rescue operations were seen”.

It said: “What might have happened if that driver hadn’t stepped up today?

“We accept the inherent dangers of motorsports, but we absolutely cannot accept a driver being exposed to avoidable death.”