The Japanese Grand Prix will be remembered not only for Max Verstappen’s conquest of the second world title, but also for the controversial management of the early stages of the race when a violent downpour forced race management to suspend red flag operations.
Already during the first lap, when all the drivers started from the grid with intermediate tires, an accident occurred with Carlos Sainz who lost control of his Ferrari coming out of turn 8 and then remained stationary with half the car on the track. .
The risk taken by the Spaniard was enormous given that, thanks to the bad visibility conditions, the F1-75 was touched by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, but what happened shortly after was surreal.
When the drivers were still on the track behind the safety car, in fact, the stewards intervened on the track with cranes to remove Sainz’s car. A scene that brought to mind what happened eight years ago on the same track, when Jules Bianchi lost control of his Marussia, and which infuriated Pierre Gasly.
The AlphaTauri driver first vented all his anger over the radio and then was summoned by the stewards for having passed at a high speed under the red flag regime. At the end of the race, however, Gasly did not hide behind a finger and accused the race direction of a crazy choice that could have had catastrophic consequences.
“We have already lost Jules for the reasons we all know eight years ago on the same track. He was an extraordinary guy and an exceptional driver. We lost it in the same conditions with a crane on the track. How is it possible today to see a crane on the track again, not even on gravel, while we were still turning? I do not understand”.
“Obviously I got scared. If I had lost the car in the same way that Carlos did the lap before, at any speed, I would simply be dead ”.
Pierre then increased the dose by accusing the Federation of having had no respect either for Bianchi’s memory or for the safety of the drivers.
“I don’t understand, really. He is disrespectful towards Jules, towards his family and towards all of us pilots. We risk our lives on the track. We do the best job in the world, but we need someone to let us do it safely because it is dangerous enough ”.
Carlos Sainz’s accident at the Japanese Grand Prix
The AlphaTauri driver did not understand why the crane was sent to the track with the cars still on the track busy following the safety car. According to Gasly, the correct procedure to follow would have been to wait for the cars to return to the pits and then proceed with the recovery of Sainz’s Ferrari on a free track and in total safety.
“We took an unnecessary risk today. We could have waited even a minute to get us back into the pit lane and then send the cranes to the track ”.
“I managed to get within two meters of that crane. If I had been two meters to the left I would have died by now ”.
The summons by the commissioners to pass at high speed under the red flag regime then turned into a penalty for the AlphaTauri driver who was penalized with a drive throgh transformed into an additional 20 seconds, and 2 points on the license.
The commissioners motivated their decision as follows: “After passing the accident site, the car 10 continued under the red flag at speeds that exceeded 200 km / h on several occasions and reached 251 km. / h at some point “.
“The driver admitted that he understood that there could be marshals or obstacles on the track and admitted that he went too fast. However, as a mitigating factor for the penalty, we take into account the fact that, although the speed could not be considered “slow” as required by the regulations, it was still lower than the maximum speed achievable in these conditions ”.
“We also take into account the shock the pilot felt when he saw a crane trajectory at the crash site.”
#Furious #Gasly #lost #car #dead