Fernando Alonso has declared his support for Pierre Gasly, who came within “metres from death” at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Following an opening lap crash for Carlos Sainz, a Safety Car was released in what were horribly wet conditions.
The crash happened on the outside of Turn 12 after the Ferrari driver aquaplaned over a river running across the circuit, which resulted in the Spaniard sliding across the track.
For some unknown reason, a recovery vehicle was allowed onto a live circuit whilst the entire field were driving past the scene of Sainz’s crash.
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Drivers were absolutely furious that they were all within metres of hitting a poorly lit recovery vehicle, whilst a marshal unbelievably stood on the circuit.
Given how bad the visibility was for the drivers, people watched on in shock as Gasly, who was well behind the pack, almost hit the recovery vehicle.
The Frenchman was teething with unimaginable anger, as he couldn’t believe how close he came to hitting the vehicle.
The race was red-flagged the moment he passed the scene, which resulted in the driver being seen shouting in the AlphaTauri garage.
Drivers all spoke out in support for Gasly, who was actually given a 20-second time penalty for driving too fast under the neutralised conditions.
Gasly insisted that the FIA hadn’t learnt from the death of Jules Bianchi, who died in 2015 after succumbing to his injuries, which he sustained at the 2014 Japanese GP, where he crashed under a tractor.
Alonso is “totally supporting” Gasly, who doesn’t agree with the penalty given to the AlphaTauri driver.
“Totally supporting Pierre,” said Alonso.
“We are in the car, we know the speed we are doing, we know when we are in control.
“What we don’t expect is to see a tractor on the circuit, so that’s something that nothing to blame Pierre.”
Alonso was running in the midfield when the pack went past the recovery vehicle and Sainz’s car; however, the double World Champion has revealed that he couldn’t even see the stricken Ferrari or the poorly lit recovery vehicle, highlighting just how bad the visibility was.
“I still don’t know where Carlos was,” he said as per Autosport.
“I didn’t see the tractor. There was no visibility.
“Behind the Safety Car, I could not see the tractor, I didn’t see Carlos, so obviously it was the low point of the race and we need to understand that. It was a difficult afternoon for everyone.
“We are here to help the FIA but after 2014 we agreed it would never happen again and it happened, so we need to work together to make sure this is the last, last, last.”
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“We need to understand why the tractor was there, who made the decision, who made that call, if they misunderstood something and whether the tractor was out without permission from the race director,” Alonso added.
“So until we find the full explanation, which we will require, we cannot comment too much.”
The FIA did announce after the race that a full investigation will take place into what happened, with the trust between the FIA and the drivers now seemingly at an all-time low.