:strip_icc()/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_bc8228b6673f488aa253bbcb03c80ec5/internal_photos/bs/2022/1/Y/QtOsuMQnOu340r0l9CZw/gettyimages-1431871079.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "F1: Gasly complains about the tractor on the track in Japan and evokes the memory of Bianchi | Formula 1")
Race management installed a safety car for the removal of Carlos Sainz’s car, which collided shortly after the start. While accelerating to reach the group, before the red flag, the Frenchman from AlphaTauri was surprised by a tractor on the wrong track. The riot has come on the radio.
– What’s that tractor on the track? I got over it quickly. This is unacceptable. Remember what happened. I can’t believe it, ”she complained.
Tractor removes Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari from the track after collision at the start of the Japanese GP – Photo: Bryn Lennon – Formula 1 / Formula 1 via Getty Images
The FIA, for its part, said Gasly was darting under the red flag before overtaking the tractor. The justification is not new: the body also reported the excessive speed in a Bianchi accident report. Pierre Gasly has been called up by the race direction and will have to present himself to the stewards for not respecting the red flag.
– The safety car was activated and the race was neutralized. Car 10 (Gasly), which had sustained damage and was stopped before the safety car, was driving at high speed to catch up with the rest of the group. Conditions worsened and the red flag was displayed before car 10 passed the (Sainz’s) crash site – the entity said.
Eight years ago the Japanese GP ended with 44 laps out of 53 after a very serious accident with Jules Bianchi, friend and compatriot of Gasly. Bianchi, then a Marussia pilot, hit a crane and dragged Adrian Sutil’s Sauber off the track. The pilot was taken unconscious to the hospital and he died nine months later from the aftermath of the beating.
Through social media, Jules Bianchi’s father also evoked his deceased son. Philippe Bianchi complained of a “lack of respect” for the life of the drivers and for the memory of Jules.
Jules Bianchi’s father complains about a tractor on track at the 2022 Japanese GP – Photo: Reproduction / Instagram
“No respect for the lives of pilots, no respect for Jules’ memory,” he posted.
In 2016 the family of Jules filed a lawsuit against FOM, Marussia and FIA after an FIA report pointed out that the accident was caused by Bianchi. An FIA investigative team produced a 396-page report in which it determined that Jules “didn’t slow down enough to avoid losing control of his car.”
– We seek justice for Jules and we want to bring out the truth about the true causes of our son’s accident. As a family, we have many unanswered questions, as well as feeling that Jules ‘accident and death could have been avoided if a series of mistakes had not occurred – said Philippe, Jules’ father at the time.
The tractor was on the track to remove Carlos Sainz’s car, which collided shortly after the start. The Spaniard was one of the drivers on the grid to complain about the presence of the tractor as the drivers followed the track.
– I still don’t know why there is still a risk of having a tractor on the track in these conditions, because it is simply useless. If you’re still going to raise the red flag, why take the risk? – said the Spaniard.
McLaren’s Lando Norris added to the chorus and reinforced the “unacceptable” character of the accident.
– What the fuck. How did it happen? We lost a life in this situation years ago. We risk our lives, especially in conditions like this. We want to run. But this … unacceptable, “the Briton said.
Sergio Pérez, from RBR, also went straight to the point. The Mexican hopes to have seen a tractor on the track for the last time this Sunday.
– How can we make it clear that we never want to see a crane on the track? We lost Jules because of this mistake. What happened today is totally unacceptable! I hope this is the last time we see a tractor on the track, “she said.
