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AphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly: 'If I hit it, I would’ve been dead right now.'

There was a frightening and unacceptable incident on the second lap at Sunday's F1 Japanese Grand Prix Japan that enraged the drivers.

On the first lap, Carlos Sainz crashed through the long-radius right-hander in the second sector, and Pierre Gasly struck Rolex sponsor signage that had bounced onto the track after it was hit by Sainz’s Ferrari.

That necessitated the deployment of the Safety Car, with Gasly pitting for front wing repairs, and he re-joined adrift of the field at the back. As the pack of 17 drivers approached the scene of Sainz’s accident, a large recovery vehicle bearing resemblance to a tractor was on the track. Gasly, who had to drive to the delta permitted under the Safety Car and was at higher speed, came close to striking the vehicle, and radioed his fury in the immediate aftermath.

The race was red-flagged just as Gasly passed the scene of the accident.

🇯🇵A tricky and disappointing Sunday. Visibility was zero. I tried to get out of the spray and found myself in a big puddle, had aquaplaning and couldn't do anything to hold the car. Luckily for all, nothing worse happened today. USA next 👉https://t.co/NSvh9HK9kQ -#CarlosSainz pic.twitter.com/6OkCNgqDUp

Typically, Race Control will permit the use of recovery vehicles once the field has been safely bunched together behind the Safety Car at neutralized speed.

The incident brought back haunting memories of F1 driver Jules Bianchi's crash in Japan in 2014 that led to his death.

Bianchi suffered fatal injuries at the same circuit, in similarly wet conditions. On that occasion, Bianchi lost control under double waved yellow flags and struck a recovery vehicle that was tending to another crashed car. Bianchi died from the injuries suffered in the impact in July 2015, nine months after the accident.

The FIA’s own report into Bianchi’s accident outlined that it is “imperative to prevent a car ever hitting a crane and/or the marshals working near it.”

“We lost Jules eight years ago in similar conditions, with a crane on track or in the gravel.”

“We lost Jules eight years ago in similar conditions, with a crane on track or in the gravel,” said a justifiably livid Gasly. “I don’t understand how eight years later, in similar conditions, we can still see a crane, not even on the gravel, but on the racing line, and it is just not respectful towards Jules, towards his family, towards his loved ones and all of us. It was a dramatic incident and I think on that day we learned we don’t want to see any tractors in this kind of conditions. If I would have lost the car in a similar way as Carlos lost it on the lap before… I was doing 200 kph but it is not the matter, even 100 kph, if I would have lost it and a 12-ton crane, if I hit it, I would’ve been dead right now.

“I am just extremely grateful that I am still standing and I am still going to be able to call my family tonight and still going to be able to call my loved ones and nothing happened. But, really for the sake of us drivers, I hope that this can be the last time that we see a crane and take such an unnecessary risk for all of us race drivers.”

Gasly conceded afterward that he had been driving too fast given the circumstances, and was duly penalized, but his eagerness does not detract from the main point that a tractor should not be on-track in a place where it can endanger drivers.

“I think there are no circumstances in which we’re happy to see a tractor on the track, there’s a lot of talk about Pierre but that’s irrelevant—there were 17 other cars who passed that tractor without seeing a lot of what was going on,” said George Russell, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. “You move out of the spray to get a clearer view and moving out of the spray meant sort of in the line of the tractor. We are all going to speak to the FIA. In our view it’s pretty straightforward: no tractors on track. And if you need a tractor on track red flag it.”

“You can’t have it on track when we’re on track, no matter how slow we’re going.”

McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo said he “didn’t even see” the tractor as he passed it and added that “after [Bianchi’s accident] it was just a non-negotiable, you can’t have it on track when we’re on track, no matter how slow we’re going.”

Sebastian Vettel, who like Ricciardo was part of the ill-fated 2014 race, explained that “today was one of these odd days where things could have gone wrong and somebody might pay the price: a marshal, a driver in the car, even the slightest injury is unnecessary but we had a dramatic scene eight years ago so it was way too close to have a repetition today.”

Fernando Alonso—also on the grid in 2014—said drivers will work with the FIA to understand the cause, but expressed his disappointment.

“There is no visibility—behind the Safety Car I did not see the tractor, or Carlos—this is the low point of the race,” he said. “We are here to help the FIA but after 2014 we agreed that will never happen again, and it happened today so we need to work together to make sure this is the last, last, last.”

Valtteri Bottas, another driver who was racing at Suzuka eight years ago, said he was “very happy that today nothing more serious happened.”

The FIA confirmed on Sunday evening the incident will be investigated.