SUZUKA, Japan – Formula One drivers and team bosses have called on the FIA to respond after a car recovered to the track at the Japanese Grand Prix while Pierre Gasly is still circulating a drenched Suzuka circuit at a speed of more than 200km/h. An investigation will now be conducted to understand how such a dangerous situation could have been allowed to happen, with Gasly later telling the media he was just two meters away to have a fatal collision.
The incident was compared to Jules Bianchi’s accident at the 2014 Japanese GP, when he hit a crane in a gravel trap and suffered severe brain damage. He died the following year from his injuries.
The FIA has a long record of bringing about safety changes as a result of lessons learned from crashes and near misses, and there is a strong push from F1 drivers when it comes to safety. saw a similar reaction after Sunday’s race.
What happened?
The incident occurred on Sunday’s second lap of the Japanese GP after a chaotic opening lap. All 20 riders started the race on intermediate tyres – typically used when conditions change from wet to dry – but as the race started, conditions worsened significantly.
Carlos Sainz, who was running in third place, ran straight into the hairpin of Turn 11 and slammed into the barrier near Turn 12. The impact caused part of the hoard ad to be ripped from the barrier and stagnates on the track, Then gets hit inexplicably after getting sprayed from other cars. With other spins and Alex Albon’s Williams stopping at the side of the track after making contact with one of Haas’s cars, race control is known as a safety car.
However, due to Gasly’s damage to the front wing of his car, he went straight back into the pit as the rest of the cars caught up to the safety car. When Gasly returned to the track alone, he was driving faster than the safety car to catch up but in a flat interval that showed up on his steering wheel. The delta time is set to ensure drivers can safely catch up to the convoy behind the vehicle, but is made high enough to ensure they do so at a safe speed. However, in very wet conditions, it still means Gasly regularly exceeds 200 km/h (120 mph).
At some point during the second lap and when the safety car had picked up the convoy minus Gasly, a flatbed truck and a crane were deployed on the track to clear Sainz’s car. The safety vehicle guided 17 cars past the recovery vehicles, although some drivers were still surprised to see cranes and trucks on the road.
When Gasly passed the recovery vehicles, he was running 200 km/h, with footage from the onboard camera showing how close he had come and how bad the visibility was. An onboard camera still running on Sainz’s car also shows the surprise of the officers preparing to lift the Ferrari into the recovery vehicle.
“We have a delta lap time to respect and I was nine seconds behind the plain lap time, so I was starting the queue and then I saw it last minute, and when I see it, I’m doing 200kph,” Gasly explained. “I tried to slow down but not in an erratic way, because if I brake hard, I will lose the car and I will fall into the crane.
“I passed two meters on the right, two meters to go through today, which I don’t think is acceptable as a racer.”
Footage on Gasly’s train also shows the race was flagged in red just before he passed the recovery vehicles, even though he only had a light board to warn him ahead of the crash and it only turns red when he gets close to it. After the red flags are displayed, the race is paused and all cars return to the pit.
How did it happen?
When asked by ESPN, the FIA gave no explanation why the recovery vehicles are on track without saying Full investigation will take place.
Article 2.6.1 of the FIA’s International Sports Code states that “no governor or vehicle may enter the circuit rim without the permission of race control”, suggesting that vehicles recovery should not go there without the knowledge and permission of the FIA race director, Mr. Eduardo Freitas.
It is normal for police and recovery vehicles to enter the track in safe car conditions, although usually in dry conditions and when all cars have joined the line behind the safety car. . The idea of having a safety car was so that police officers could halt traffic to recover a vehicle, and each governor position had a line of communication back to track and field officers to ensure make sure it’s done safely.
However, given how bad the conditions were, it’s not clear why the recovery vehicles were allowed to run on the track before Gasly had a chance to catch up to the pack or simply, the race was halted by a leaf. red flag. As Gasly said after the race: “A minute later we were all on the track. Risking our lives for a minute, I don’t think that’s acceptable.”
Another factor of concern is that the teams were not aware of the presence of the recovery vehicle on the track, so there was no way to alert the drivers via the team radio. Television camera images failed to detect their presence and there was no warning from race control, leaving drivers unable to be alerted to what was happening in Turn 12.
What happens next?
Finding out how a recovery car is brought onto the track under those circumstances will be a major focus of the investigation, with all lessons to be applied to race control regulations or procedures in future. A stark comparison to Bianchi’s accident in 2014 means that everyone in the sport knows how serious it is to miss Sunday so close.
“It needs a full investigation into it, because after the Jules Bianchi tragedy it’s something you never want to see again,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “I’m sure the FIA will investigate the whole thing, but such recovered cars should never be on the track when the cars are running around.”
Another question is whether the race should be started with a standing start instead of a safe car start. After the race returned two hours later, it did so behind the safety car, which is also an option to take control of the race before the initial start.
“I think first, should we start the stand-up race or should we start behind the safety car at first?” Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said. “I think being behind a safety car is definitely safer, and safety should always come first.
“Why do I say that, because as soon as we started, a lot of drivers, obviously most of the people who drive on average tires are the fastest, but then have very little grip, very little visibility and possibly due to unsafe rear starting.car, it will give you at least a few laps to understand the situation, get feedback from the drivers before deciding to proceed.
“I thought at first that was a key point. The second thing, definitely the crane, to leave the crane on the road while the car was running, we said that [was] very dangerous. It shouldn’t happen. So overall, I think it’s a bad situation that needs to be addressed again. It can’t happen anymore. “
The drivers were particularly frustrated by the situation as the topic was discussed during their briefing with Freitas on the Friday before the race after a recovery car was launched on the track a week earlier. in Singapore while the drivers were sitting in the back of a safety vehicle with its tires slick in the moisture. conditions. Mercedes driver George Russell, and director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, said a whole rethinking of how to deal with recovering vehicles was needed, especially in wet conditions. .
“In no case are we happy to see a tractor on the track,” said Russell. “There is a lot of talk about Pierre [driving too fast] but that’s not relevant. There were 17 other cars on the road and none of us got past that tractor and saw a lot going on, because you obviously have to move away from the nozzle to get a clear view and then you are in line with the tractor. Especially in wet, wet, intermediate or dry conditions, in no case with a tractor [on track] is acceptable.
“From our point of view, it’s pretty simple: there’s no tractor on the road. And if you need a tractor on the road, give it a red flag.”
