F1’s Governing Body, The FIA (Federation Internationale de I’Automobile) has come under a lot of fire following the conclusion of the Japanese Grand Prix. Still, it is something that has been happening for years but never to this magnitude. You would have thought after the death of Jules Bianchi, we would have seen them take more proper action when it comes to sending out recovery vehicles but no. Clearly, the FIA still doesn’t know how to make the right decision.
It all started when Carlos Sainz aquaplaned into the tyre barrier at turn 12 (even though its a kink and not an actual corner) and with it off came some of the advertising banners which got lodged into the front wing of Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri forcing the Frenchman to pit for a new front-wing and a set of extreme wet tyre. This was when it all kicked off, Gasly (obviously) was a pitstop behind the pack so was having to speed to catch up to the back of the pack but keeping within his delta time but as soon as he exited the hairpin of turn 11 the red flag was thrown and the race was suspended.
On the side of the track, where Sainz's car was left stranded, there was a track/truck which is a massive no-no when cars are still circulating on the race track in those weather conditions. Rightfully so this has caused a lot of anger from Gasly and his colleagues.
"What is this tractor on track? I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what happened. Can't believe this! We don't want to see ever, a crane on the track."
During the red flag, a couple of drivers took to Twitter to express their concern about what they had witnessed on the in-lap behind the safety car. Lando Norris and a couple of other drivers were expressing how we all felt when watching the video that was going around on social media. So when drivers are calling out the FIA's stupidity what does that really say about the governing body? If you see the onboard footage from Sainz's stranded Ferrari, it makes the whole situation even more uncomfortable as there was a marshall at the scene and it puts into perspective how much worse it could have been.
Given what has happened before at Suzuka (2014 Jules Bianchi) you would have thought that in such terrible conditions the FIA would use common sense. What should have happened was to throw the red flag out and let all the cars return to the pitlane and then bring the recovery vehicles onto the track. It was clear that Sainz was uninjured from the crash, so there is no excuse to put vehicles on track when F1 cars are still out.
As you would expect Gasly was filled with rage when he got back to the pitlane having said “I could have f****** killed myself.” It’s a serious thing that the FIA has to investigate but their reasoning was nothing short of embarrassing.
“As conditions were deteriorating, the Red Flag was shown before Car 10 passed the location of the incident where it had been damaged the previous lap.”
Phillippe Bianchi, father of Jules sensationally hit out at the handling of the incident by going on Instagram and posting a picture of Gasly’s onboard with the caption of “no respect for the life of the driver, no respect for Jules memory”. No one can argue that he has a right to say such a statement given what happened in similar conditions 8 years ago.
It is unacceptable how a global sport like Formula 1 is being so run and this type of incident is top of the list that needs addressing with actions instead of words. This isn’t just a mistake we are talking about here, it is people's lives we are risking so the FIA need to start listening to every interview/press release the drivers conduct so they can learn what it feels like from the cockpit. The FIA at least owe it to the drivers that they have their safety is at the forefront of the sport.
Some methods could be implemented to prevent such future incidents from happening.
VSC Speeds should apply for Safety Cars while cars are catching up to the Safety Car
The Clark of the course must not allow recovery vehicles on track until it is fully communicated that the cars are fully formed up behind the safety car
A message should be sent directly to drivers warning them of recovery vehicles and/or marshalls are on track
Recovery vehicles need to be lit up more visible through heavy rain
A Yellow Zone where the incident is (pitlane speed limit for that section of track)
One thing I would personally like to see as a fan is the driver briefings, especially when safety measures are being discussed. At the next race in Austin, Texas Formula 1 should release the driver briefing so fans can see what exactly the race director has to say following the incident.
The FIA has been under fire from fans on how they dish out penalties after the Singapore Grand Prix, where Sergio Perez was allowed to talk his way out of escaping more than just a 5-second penalty for falling back more than 10 car lengths behind the safety car no more than 3 times during the race. You can easily go through the last few years and spot where the FIA/stewards have got decisions wrong but the important thing that fans want to see is consistency.
Fans and commentators have been asking why certain decisions regarding investigations have been done after the race and why they can’t be investigated during the race. If investigations were carried out during the race and not after it would allow the winner to celebrate instead of potentially celebrating only to be stripped of the win and for the fans, it’s not something that has been going down well on social media.
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