Pierre Gasly and the entire Formula 1 community are set to receive the answer they’ve been waiting for to the question: why was a recovery vehicle allowed onto the circuit at Suzuka whilst cars were going past in the wet?
The recent Japanese Grand Prix came within “two metres” of being as disastrous as the same race in 2014, where Jules Bianchi crashed underneath a recovery vehicle and sadly died from his injuries in 2015.
At the most recent round, the race was started right at the point when the already falling rain suddenly intensified, making visibility for all drivers extremely poor.
Carlos Sainz found out just how tough the conditions were, after spinning across the circuit and into the wall at Turn 12, after aquaplaning across one of the many rivers on the Japanese venue.
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Sainz’s crash brought out a Safety Car on the second lap; however, a recovery vehicle was allowed onto the circuit whilst the pack were going past the site of the Ferrari driver’s crash.
Onboards showed that some drivers had to rapidly turn away from the tractor, due to what appeared to be shock of seeing a recovery vehicle on the track.
Gasly; however, came concerningly close to driving straight into the back of the poorly lit vehicle, after being some way off the pack and therefore driving faster to catch up.
The Frenchman was visibly petrified and equally furious after almost hitting the tractor; however, the AlphaTauri was penalised for driving too fast under what became red flag conditions.
The entire paddock supported the Frenchman and demanded answers from the governing body, after it seemed they’d learnt nothing from Bianchi’s crash.
To their credit, the FIA announced at the time that they’d be carrying out an investigation to find out what happened, and why.
Those answers are set be released in the “coming days” according to an official FIA statement sent out on Wednesday.
“As stated immediately after the race, the FIA has undertaken a thorough analysis of the incidents which took place at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka,” the governing body said in a statement after a World Motor Sport Council meeting in London.
“Procedural issues have been identified and will be corrected in the short and medium term. The findings will be made public in the coming days.”
The incident simply can’t happen ever again, with Gasly having come “two metres” from being “dead”.
“How today can we see a crane, not even in the gravel but on the racetrack while we are still on the track? I don’t understand that,” said Gasly, following the Japanese GP.
“I passed two metres from that crane. If I would have been two metres to the left I would have been dead,” he added.
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Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez was “so angry” after the race in Japan, where he like most of the paddock demanded that the tractor “situation” is never repeated “ever again”.
“What happened today just makes me so angry,” said the Mexican after the race.
“I just hope everybody in the sport will never get to see this situation ever again.”