Philippe Bianchi, father of the late Formula 1 driver, Jules, was appalled by race control’s negligence during the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.
At the same race in 2014, Jules crashed into a recovery vehicle, which had been sent out to collect the stricken Sauber of Adrian Sutil.
The Frenchman spent several months in hospital, and sadly passed away in July of 2015, before Philippe threatened a lawsuit against the FIA for sending the crane onto the racetrack to begin with.
On Sunday, Carlos Sainz crashed into the wall on the opening lap of another wet edition of the race in Suzuka, bringing out the red flag.
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Under the purview of race director, Eduardo Freitas, a crane was put out on track to pick up the Ferrari, and onboard shots appeared to show the vehicle making its way over before the red flag had been flown.
Unaware that the truck was on the asphalt, Gasly drove past it, narrowly missing it and almost becoming a victim of shocking and appalling incompetence.
The stewards took no responsibility for the incident, and have instead hit Gasly with a 20-second penalty and two penalty points for speeding under red flags.
However, race control came under heavy criticism for sending the vehicle onto a live track in the first place, a mistake they do not seem to have acknowledged.
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The 26-year-old said on the radio that he could have “killed myself” if he had hit the truck, and the ordeal brought back painful memories of the awful day in 2014.
Philippe posted a picture of the haunting moment on Instagram, and said, “No respect for the life of the driver, no respect for Jules’ memory.”
Adam Cooper, a long-term journalist in the F1 paddock, has said that a “top driver” told him that all of the drivers are “angry” that the truck was allowed to enter the racetrack while cars were running.