Japanese Grand Prix: Anger over recovery vehicle on track triggered by Jules Bianchi’s death

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Formula 1 drivers and team executives criticized race organizers for placing a recovery truck on the circuit in rainy circumstances.

In light of the death of French driver Jules Bianchi following an incident in the same event eight years ago, they deemed the decision “unacceptable.”

Bianchi sustained catastrophic head injuries after colliding with an identical recovery tractor.

On Sunday, Pierre Gasly passed the vehicle at great speed and said, “I’m simply incredibly pleased to be here.”

The Alpha Tauri driver, Bianchi’s boyhood buddy, joined Sky Sports: “How can there be a crane on the racetrack, not even on the gravel when we are still racing? I don’t comprehend.

“Jules was already gone. We all lost an incredible man eight years ago at the same track, under the same weather circumstances, while operating the crane.

“It was disrespectful toward Jules, his family, and ourselves. We are all endangering our lives out there. We are performing the finest work in the world, but all we want is that we are kept secure.”


Bianchi’s godson, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, commented: “These things should not be visible to us. In 2014, something occurred, and we should learn from it. I hope that we are able to learn from this and that it will not happen again.”

Philippe Bianchi, Bianchi’s father, said on Instagram: “No regard for the driver’s life, and no regard for Jules’ legacy. Incredible.”


The FIA has acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding the deployment of rescue trucks at Suzuka would be investigated.

Before the rescue van was let onto the track to retrieve Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, which had wrecked after the hairpin, the race had been paused and the drivers were racing behind the safety car.

However, the drivers believed that because the road was so slick, the truck should not have been on the road.

Gasly was still racing at a fast rate of speed to catch up with the rear of the pack following a pit stop at the conclusion of the first lap to fix damage caused by the Frenchman’s collision with a billboard that had been damaged by Sainz’s vehicle.

Jules Bianchi's death

Gasly was later penalized for speeding under red flag conditions; authorities determined that he was exceeding 250 kilometers per hour while completing a lap after the race had been stopped.

However, the red signal was barely shown for a few seconds before Gasly overtook the truck.

I was terrified,” Gasly stated. “If I had lost the automobile in a similar manner as Carlos, I would have perished regardless of the speed. As easy as that.

“It’s already hazardous enough, and I find it needless nowadays. We could have waited one more minute in the pit lane before releasing the tractors onto the circuit.

The pit lane was filled with drivers who shared Gasly’s fury.

“Wtf. How did this occur? Lando Norris, the driver of a McLaren, remarked, “We lost a person in this position years ago.”

“We risk our lives, particularly in such situations. We want to race. However… Unacceptable!”

Sergio Perez of Red Bull described the event as “the lowest moment we’ve seen in the sport in years,” while Esteban Ocon of Alpine stated, “We’ve lost enough friends to these vehicles in the past.”

Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin, competing in his farewell F1 race at Suzuka, remarked, “The tractor shouldn’t have been there. Those who operate the tractor are presumably given an order, yes? There are many things we must learn and comprehend. Today we were just lucky.”

Grand Prix Drivers Association chairman Alex Wurz stated, “We need to debate a tractor on track… “Let’s make it brief: This cannot occur, gentlemen.”

Christian Horner, the leader of the Red Bull squad, stated: “It is completely unacceptable.” We lost Jules Bianchi here, which should never, ever happen, thus a thorough inquiry is required to determine why there was a rescue car on the track.

“Checo [Sergio Perez] reported it to us, and in those dreadful conditions with zero visibility, it was really hazardous.”

Perez remarked on social media, “How can we make it very clear that we never want to see a crane on a train track? We lost Jules as a result of that error. Today’s events are completely unacceptable! I hope this is the only time I ever see a crane on a train track!”

In a statement confirming its investigation, the FIA said, “While it is standard practice to recover cars under the safety car and red flag conditions, the FIA has launched a thorough review of the events involving the deployment of recovery vehicles during the Japanese Grand Prix due to the unique circumstances and feedback from a number of drivers.

This is part of the standard practice of debriefing and analyzing all race-related occurrences to guarantee continuous process and procedure improvements.

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