Sergio Pérez’s late race pressure on Charles Leclerc at the Japanese Grand Prix ultimately claimed team-mate Max Verstappen his second World Championship, on what was a horrible day for Formula 1.
The race at the Suzuka International Racing Course started under heavy rainfall, which saw Carlos Sainz crash heavily on the opening lap on the outside of Turn 12, following an unfortunate bout of aquaplaning.
This promoted Pérez from fourth to third; however, what the remaining drivers came across on the following lap left the entire field “so angry”.
Behind the Safety Car, which was released following Sainz’s crash, Pérez was shocked to see that the FIA had allowed a recovery vehicle and a marshal onto the circuit whilst they were going past, something the Mexican hailed as the “lowest point” in years.
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The tractor which had entered the circuit was unbelievably difficult to see, due to the poor visibility caused by the intensifying rain.
Outrage was shared by the drivers after Pierre Gasly almost hit the vehicle and claimed that he came “metres from death”, at the very same venue where Jules Bianchi suffered a deadly crash in 2014.
At the 2014 Japanese GP, Bianchi crashed underneath a recovery vehicle, before sadly dying from his injuries in 2015.
Gasly insisted that the FIA hadn’t learnt from Bianchi’s death, as drivers one-by-one expressed their anger and disgust at the governing body.
Pérez seemed to not care about the result, where he claimed second place after Leclerc was awarded a late five-second time penalty, with all the attention being on how the FIA put the drivers and the marshal at risk.
“That’s the lowest point we’ve seen of the sport in years,” Perez, who finished second following Charles Leclerc’s penalty, said.
“What happened today, that just makes me so angry.
“I just hope everybody in the sport [acts so] we never get to see this situation ever again because you’re just putting all the drivers at risk.
“We saw what happened few years ago here with with our friend Jules. I don’t care what the reason is for that, this should never happen again ever, in any category.”
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Since the race concluded, the FIA have revealed that a full investigation will take place, to discover what went wrong and, most importantly, what needs to change for the future.
The race was red-flagged moments after the field went past the scene of Sainz’s crash, with the circuit becoming more of a water slide than a racetrack.
Gasly was actually awarded a 20-second time penalty and two penalty points after the race, for speeding under red flag conditions; however, the FIA supposedly understood that seeing a tractor on track would’ve spooked the clearly shocked Frenchman.