The FIA has launched a thorough review on the events related to recovery vehicle at F1 Japanese GP after complaints from several drivers.
The weather conditions were poor from the get go in F1 Japanese GP at Suzuka, where the race was red-flagged early on after multiple incidents on Lap 1. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was caught out in a bigger incident for which a recovery vehicle was required.
Having started from the pitlane, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly got caught out by the advertising banner from the incident which got stuck to his front wing. He was forced to pit as he then tried to join the back of the safety car as soon as possible.
In doing so, he was always behind the pack and when the race was red-flagged, he was the last one to arrive at the incident scene where he spotted a recovery tractor which was trying to remove Sainz’s Ferrari from the circuit.
Few others too spotted the tractor which resulted in heavy comments on the radio. “What is this tractor on track?” Gasly said on team radio. “I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what happened. Can’t believe this! We don’t want to see ever, a crane on the track.”
Gasly was furious under red flag as he came into the pits to talk with his team. Under red flag, the FIA released a statement regarding the incident and also put the Frenchman under investigation for speeding under red flag for which he was later handed a 20s time penalty.
“In relation to the recovery of the incident on Lap 3, the Safety Car had been deployed and the race neutralised,” said the FIA then. Car 10, which had collected damage and pitted behind the Safety Car, was then driving at high speed to catch up to the field.
“As conditions were deteriorating, the Red Flag was shown before Car 10 passed the location of the incident where it had been damaged the previous lap, summed up the FIA. In that short break, F1 drivers took to social media to show their displeasure.
Not only the F1 drivers but the team chiefs eventually pushed into a thorough review into the matter which the FIA is now to do as it released a statement on the same. “While it is normal practice to recover cars under Safety Car and Red Flag conditions, due to the particular circumstances and also taking into account feedback from of a number of drivers, the FIA has launched a thorough review of the events involving the deployment of recovery vehicles during the Japanese Grand Prix.
“This is part of the common practice of debrief and analysis of all race incidents to ensure continual improvements of processes and procedures,” stated the FIA. The drivers stressed about driver safety especially at a circuit where Jules Bianchi lost his life under similar circumstances which is still fresh on the minds of the people. His father Phillipe posted on Instagram just after the incident, “no respect for the life of the driver, no respect for Jules’ memory”.
Here’s how F1 Japanese GP panned out