How F1 drivers' outrage forced a review into Japanese GP's near-tragedy 

They shouldn't learn from this, they should have learned this back in 2014. This can never happen again!!

This has been the 3rd time this season I noticed extremely risky situations with trying to recover a car under a safety car. When Daniel Ric car won't go into neutral. A trailer went on track and someone almost hit it. When the front Wing got stuck. Marshalls were on track when it was green flagged. Now this race. Enough is enough.

FIAs decision to blame Gasly for their mistake sums them up perfectly. Bad rules = blame someone else. 2021Abu Dhabi = blame Masi etc etc

My idea is to have Asia races place during march-august to avoid monsoon sessions so that there will not be drama and delays like Singapore.

Part of what worries me here is how hard it was to actually see the recovery vehicle. At least slap a light bar on the thing, it's easily the tallest thing on track so it'd be hard to mistake it for the safety car, and they could easily put other marker lights on it to make it even easier to identify in poor conditions.

Remember also the incident in Singapore where the race was green-flagged while a marshall was still on the track recovering Tsunoda’s front wing? Two major screw-ups in safety in one week, what’s going on?

This is absurd. It shoudn't have happened period. Not enough safety measures. I also think recovery vehicles should have mandatory LED lightbars. It's just an extra safety precaution to improve visibility of the vehicle just like you know, real roadside recovery vehicles.

I think the solution is pretty simple and why it was done is beyond me. Dont deploy recovery vehicles until all drivers are collected by the safety car, and make sure drivers are made aware of any recovery vehicle/personnel locations on the track. This doesnt really solve the issue of what happens if there is a driver incident in the safety car line, but its sure better than what this was.

I disagree. Double waved yellows and safety car means that there (may be) are marshals on track. In that case the priority is not with the F1 driver but with the marshals. Gastly came across the marshals and their vehicle, HE needs to make accommodations for them under double yellow and safety car. Sure, the marshals could have waited another minute IN THIS CASE. Double waved yellows and safety car are the highest level of warning to drivers on track, this warning level should be suitable for when marshals and equipment are on track with them. In this case they could have waited but what if a driver is stuck in an overturned car? Should the marshals wait until a red flag and then until all drivers have retired to the pits? NO. Safety car an double yellows should be enough for the marshals to do their jobs.

"The'll do anything in their power to remain clean of guilt"... Me knowing the reason why Binotto and Toto weren't on the grid this weekend and why Horner didn't have a smug face on his interviews today.

Unacceptable to have that happen. FIA should fine itself and GTFO.

And then he got a penalty ridiculus

The turn where Sainz went off and the straight leading to 130R are pretty close to each other. It should be possible to put a crane in that area between them and cranes on other strategic points of the circuit where 2 separate sections of track are close together to minimise the need for recovery vehicles. Look at all the buildings in the way at Monaco yet they're able to recover crashed and broken down cars with cranes. That would be my suggested solution. I knew Pierre had every right to be angry about it as soon as I saw it. The vehicle Jules hit wasn't even on track so today's incident was potentially more dangerous.

I still put slightly more of the blame on Gasly for not slowing under double-waved yellows, regardless of how far behind he was behind the pack. However, I agree with the general sentiment, this cannot happen again and implementing a fix is very straight forward. Race control and teams should be informed that Marshalls are on track, they and recovery vehicles should preferably only be allowed on track once a red flag is thrown and they should consider a safety car speed limit. After all, a safety car being deployed means there is a safety hazard on track.

It is horrendous how a heavy vehicle was allowed to enter the track whilst racing cars are still on it. It should be even more strict when weather deteriorates.

I don’t understand what is so challenging about waiting for every car to return to the pits before releasing a recovery vehicle.

At the absolute least, they need to put super bright lights all over every recovery vehicles. Those little stock lights do nothing in conditions like this. If theyre gonna be on track, make damn sure everyone can see it a mile away

you are allowed to think a little for yourself when the entire track is yellow. so don't drive at full speed, think about there being people working on the track, that's just like why there's a pace car out.

1) Race Control completely screwed up by releasing the truck while cars were still on-track, and 2) SHAME on the FIA for blaming Gasly. Completely unacceptable. These are supposed to be professionals. Did they learn nothing from the Bianchi tragedy?

FiA must be held accountable!

Ok here’s the thing: 1. Teams run inters, instead of wet tyres, when it’s drenching wet. Hence, why Carlos slid. 2. Sainz’ car is on the track. It’s not on a runway, not outside of track. It’s IN the track. In fact, Hamilton almost hit the car. Marshals risked their life getting the car out,because the car is on the track. 3. Gasly switched to wet, but he sped up part of the track. That’s a mistake on his part. In fact, some drivers are weaving during the safety car, even if it’s impossible to get some heat into that tyre when it’s raining. Lastly, FIA should’ve immediately called the cars back. As soon as Sainz went off in those conditions. The car should’ve been called back.

The drivers should refuse to continue racing until a formal apology has been given to Gasly and rules are REFORMED. There is no excuse for having recovery vehicles on track with the cars still in tow and viability close to 0. This should never happen.

he was also going 250pkh durring double waved yellows that turned into reds...

So now we are going to red flag a race whenever we have to send any recovery vehicle on track, based on this standard. Also, where are the double waiving yellows?

Il be one to say, there shouldnt have been a large recovery vehicle on the circuit. But he (and others) should have been informed of the vehicle, and that the drivers adapt to the worst weather conditions, i.e. slow down, even more.

Blaming Gasly is a smokescreen by the FIA! It was unacceptable! "Don't drive a truck on track when there are cars on track." Excellently said. Ditto about who was in charge of the decision being to blame, not the marshalls.

FIA add another light that warns of recovery vehicle on track. Surely recovery vehicles can be fitted with something that activates this new light across the entire track.

Yeah, this was absolutely wild. The FIA definitely needs to intervene, but drivers also have to understand the safety car is out for safety. When it slows down, drivers can't both get upset at the speed and be disgusted by something like this. I know their tyres get cold, yada yada, but this is happening to everyone equally under safety car, for the most part. Can't pull a Checo in Singapore and demand the safety car go faster.

There should never be a recovery vehicle on the track when race cars are actually moving on the track. Red Flagged or not. The recovery vehicle should get confirmation that the track is clear of moving cars.

If the driver of a crashed car is okay then a red flag should be shown and cars return to the pits before recovery vehicles are sent to assist. If the driver needs immediate attention you can stop the cars on circuit and get the vehicles to the driver without delay but in no circumstances should non race vehicles be on track especially in almost zero visibility.

He knew that at the very least Sainz car would still be there. And still he drives so fast at the same spot Sainz went off. Risking he would crash hard into Sainz car. Yeah, that was smart thinking of Gasly.

Lets be real, this was gasly's fault. Clearly the FIA can't be held responsible for his insanely irresponsible actions. Also massi followed the rules last year and belgium 2021 was a great race.

I find it unbelievable that with the technology we have available for communication, the FIA has no method to warn drivers of potential dangers on track, such as recovery trucks or marshalls. I am not all that familiar with FIA, I grew up on NASCAR. Isn’t there some means of race control at least communicating with each team? Perhaps a general broadcast to all teams at once? Maybe there is a channel on the radios for race control to “override” team comms for these warnings? It just seems there should be an easy answer to this without any major time investment or cost. Even if there is a significant time or monetary cost, its cheaper that a career ending injury or death on track.

How can the FIA still be such a hot mess?!

There was a red flag , that is showing on the entire course and on the steering wheel of every car before the crane was deployed, Gasly was going to fast trying to catch the field

Crazy. If the race was stopped, no need to put a recovery car on track until the cars are in the pits.

Regardless if Gasly did anything wrong, having a tractor out on track like that during poor conditions and visibility is unnecessary danger. In conditions like that the FIA should make sure that all drivers are not anywhere near that vehicle. The FIA and race control have all the advanced tech to track the drivers so it's on them to make sure that the drivers are safe if they can't see much.

i think the best solution is a new flag that says that a recovery vehicle is on track in this sector/ mini sector so the drivers always can know there is someone in the track there

There was a decent amount of time passed from when max first passed the recovery vehicle to Gasly passing it later. Why is no one talking about how gasly's own team did not warn him about the fact that there was a recovery vehicle on the road?

Safety has gone a long way in F1, however it’s not perfected. By now you would think the FIA would own up to their mistake instead of pointing fingers. I feel for the drivers being upset about how dangerous this situation was. The FIA should’ve clearly made commutation with all team 100% clear. Im glad no one hit the tractor.

I mean, we always see a crane or tractor on track after an incident. When there is a SC.

While I agree with the sentiment that there shouldn't be a tractor or similar on track until either all cars are behind the safety car or race is red flagged, drivers placing the blame solely on the FIA is wrong. Drivers should not be doing 150mph under yellow flag conditions...it's as simple as that. Yellow flags are there primarily to protect marshalls. Not competitors. As noted in this video, Martin Brundle hit a Marshall in 1994. Had Jules Bianchi hit and killed a number of marshalls (which he would have done had he not hit the tractor) then would we be seeing such a violent reaction? What about marshalls saying "drivers shouldn't be doing 150mph past ANY accident scene, PERIOD." The fact is, from club level Karting all the way to F1, yellows flags mean SLOW DOWN and in the case of waved yellows it means BE PREPARED TO STOP. Gasly was apparently doing 150mph past that scene, Bianchi was doing around 120mph before his accident IIRC. Drivers like Perez saying "it is unacceptable" to have a tractor on track are correct. Likewise, it is unacceptable for him and others to ask in drivers briefings if "losing a tenth (of a second) in a yellow flag sector is ok. He is one of the worst offenders for this as has been stated by a number of individuals (ex F1 doctor Gary Hartstein) being the most prominent.

Before they send a truck out, just Red Flag the Race. Once all the Drivers are safely stopped in the Pits, THEN deploy the Recovery Vehicle. How hard is that to do? Every Race. Every time.

Why did a flatbed enter the track under yellow flag during low visibility conditions without any approval is the biggest question. We cannot blame the track workers or marshals, this is a training issue not a personal issue. For the FIA to give Gasley a penalty for driving too fast 2 seconds after a red flag is disgusting. Even if Gasley were not speeding, if this was a street track with blind corners it would have not mattered, he would probably be dead. Moving forward, I'm sure every F1 fan can agree that, other then the racers & safety/medic car(s); no vehicles should ever be allowed on track without FIA approval. There needs to be strict rules in place for other vehicle entering the track and better yellow & red flag procedures.

Simple fix, automated speed limit through a sector sized area of track that automatically activates when cars pass a point, with double waved yellow and safety car on track.

He was extremely close to Sainz’ car even if that tractor wasn’t there. Gastly should’ve been made aware that there was a crash there, so this is also partially on him/the team. Furthermore, I don’t think meeting the tractor in this situation was bad. Heck, I think it saved him. Why? It has a light. Sainz’ car was completely invisible instead. It was a safetycar moment. Do they have to wait until the entire field is bunched up before recovering vehicles? I don’t think so, they could’ve waited a minute longer, but I think it was justified.

It shouldn’t have been out there and Gasly was going too fast behind a safety car. “I was driving flat out”. Gasly drove ghastly.

Herberts comments during the Red Flag about Gasly were all wrong. There shouldn't be recovery vehicles on the track while cars are still out on the track at near race speed. Even behind the PC they are still going over 60MPH and up to 90 MPH. I thought his continued bashing of Gasly may have been instructions from the F1A to make them look better.

I mean I think he would survive it if the tractor didn't land on the car or inside cockpit right?

When there are conditions like these yellow flags should be treated as double yellow and double yellow as red flags. Take them through the pits if you have to and wait for everyone to catch up there.

The enquiry will just result in obfuscation, and more veiled criticism of drivers "excessive" speeds in harsh conditions. Maybe there should be the provision for a senior marshall at each post to have the power to throw a red flag electronically should a major incident like this occur. And instead of all these "delta" times, why cannot F1 have the same VSC arrangement that is operated in WEC, whereby all cars are limited to a given speed?

This should be the end for the Japanese GP. No questions. No excuses. Cancel all contracts.

As long as drivers like Lewis are around who showed they can be a serious danger to even their teammates I think it’s a bit simple to only point towards the FIA. Mercedes risked their drivers health at the start of this season when porpoising. That was on purpose. The FIA making an honest mistake they immediately try to fix is no big deal in that context. Not if drivers health genuinely is the topic.

Strike 2 for the same track? I hope they don't try for a 3rd.

Why doesn't the FIA use the same method as they do in WEC, specifically at the Le Mans 24 hours: in which race control has a channel to speak to the drivers and teams directly 1 way to warn of safety car periods, and warning of where vehicles or hazards on track such as recovery vehicles and debris.

Now the only question is did the FIA knowingly deploy the recovery vehicle, were they not aware of gasly's position or do they just not have control over the deployment of vehicles onto the track

The FIA needs to be held accountable and end their hypocrisy. Congrats to Max on his second championship!

Let’s also remember they threw green flags with marshals on track in Singapore last week. I still don’t believe that footage was a replay.

I would love to hear what the FIA will find against “investigating” *themselves*

Utterly ridiculous, this shouldn't have happened and big questions need to be asked by the FIA as to how they allowed this to happen.

I’m sure Leclerc is really effing pissed that happened again.

FIA once again taking no responsibility at all. No prizes for guessing what the outcome of tomorrow's budget results will be; they lack any bottle and any accountability. Once Seb retires, I would love for him to begin the path to joining the FIA and making the sport a far far better watch

When I first heard of this incident, I instantly got flashbacks to the former fatal accident with Bianchi. I'm saddened for there to have even been a chance for it to happen again, you'd think there is stricter rules for how to proceed in situations like this to avoid even the chance it happening again. RIP Jules Bianchi.

And yet Karun Chanduk and Paul di Resta felt it necessary to blame Gasly and to say the FIA got it right! It’s an outrage that they let that truck and grab onto the circuit before all drivers were safely behind the safety car, or in the pits. It’s also ridiculous that the full wet is so slow that no one would use it, even though it was obviously needed! High farce, and disgraceful behaviour. Thank heavens no one else was killed.

Alonso said he didn’t realise Sainz or the recovery truck were there at all until he saw the replay during the red flag. I don’t think anyone would call Fernando unobservant so it really shows how little they could see, even under yellows and the SC. His ‘this will be eventful’ comment on the grid was also accurate.

Even if Gasly was driving unsafely, causing a collision between two F1 cars or an F1 car and a barrier is much, much different than a collision between a low racecar and a high tractor, or a marshall. Let's not forget that yesterday on dry conditions Verstappen lost the car and almost crashed into Norris, on changing, wet conditions the possibility of mistakes on a car with 1000+hp is more than likely, especially given the fact that the whole field passed on the same conditions next to the vehicle. Most importantly the screenshot of the tractor on track is much less scary than on video, since its lights are much dimmer than the red flag ones and it is visible for a few frames, possibly amounting to just tenths of seconds. It's amazing how the FIA can enforce archaic rules regarding body jewellery and treat them as a safety issue and simply forget one of the darkest days of modern F1. On the very track with the very same, or worse conditions that caused it no less...

FIA must come under review for this. In light of Jules’ death this is completely unacceptable in any way

FIA: we reviewed our action and found no fault of our own.

Seriously someone should hold them accountable for that apparently the FIA aren't doing their jobs well Honestly that race was so damn wet that pretty much anything could have happened That being said congratulations to my boy Max for taking another WDC

why FIA dont wait a while for all cars got into pitlane then deploy the crane, it wont take a long time. but they decide just to carelessly bring out the crane other video perspective show that FIA not only put harm on the drivers, but also on the marshalls crazy.

It is absolutely unbelievable how many FIA controversies there have been just this season, this is getting ridiculous. How they have any credibility as an organization is beyond me

If Gasly was 2m to the left he would have collected Sainz car even if the tractor wasn’t there. Surprised there isn’t a channel for race control to warn drivers of hazards. That should happen asap. Agree the tractor shouldn’t have been there, but a warning to keep right more important to overall safety. Congratulations to Max. No doubting this victory.

I can't believe that F1 haven't gotten rid of these tractors and brought back the cranes that we had in the 80's and 90's especially in the hard to recover areas.

Hilarious the FIA can never take responsibility even when they fuck up. Yeah, Gasly might have been speeding but that wouldn’t be a problem if there wasn’t a truck on the track when there shouldn’t be.

I wasn't paying attention when it was live when i reviewed the footage on YT i can only say. That was insane That was fucking insane, the poor visibily, and a tractor on the road going those speeds, fucking insane, it made me jump, i didn't expect that to be there I didn't see it coming at all, and that was from the comfort of my sofa i can't imagine the fear that ran down gasly's spine when from nothing a tractor appears next to him insanse 1. In poor visibility (max visibility < 100m) Marshals and Recovery vehicles should never set foot on the track before a RedFlag and all cars have been confirmed in to be in the pits Car crash -> RedFlag -> Remaining cars are in pit -> Marshal & Recovery Vehicle 2. Unless driver is in dire need of medical help, point 1 should always be followed 3. When point 1 is overturned by point 2, tractors and marshals should be equipped with active high visibility gear(Lights strapped on to them) normal highvis only works when there is light, they're dependent on the incoming vehicle to have lights, hence why they are passive what we need are active high visibility safety gear, one where even in visibilities as low as

I understand why he and the drivers were upset but Gasly absolutely deserved his penalty for behaving with casual disregard for safety. People are asking "what if he hit the tractor?" Take the tractor out of the equation for a moment. There still would have been marshals around Sainz's car. Now we can ask "what if Gasly spun out and hit the marshals?" The tractor being on the track was certainly unsafe, but so was Gasly's speed in those conditions when he knew a car was stranded. The FIA doing things in an unsafe manner shouldn't absolve Gasly for his complete disregard for safety.

Why do they race in Japan on monsoon season anyway? Can't think of another track that it's so often hit by these types of conditions. Pair it with China in Spring for instance.

He was going way too fast. The tractor should not have been on the track. Both things can be true at the same time. Gasly deserved a penalty. The FIA/Suzuka need to change how they operate.

Max winning the wdc like this is peak max winning the championship he wins but it’s overshadowed by controversy out of his control

I see a lot of people casting blame, but no one talking about the fact gasly was driving well within his delta.

The FIA is so broken. They need a major redo to protect these drivers and keep this sport on the upward slope. I watched Jules accident and it could have been avoided and to know it potentially could have happened again today is to much. Things need to change.

They should add flashing lights on the recovery vehicle as well as drivers steering wheel to let them know when there is active recovery going on or when marshals on track.

Why is no one talking about this being standard practice for Japanese circuits? You see recovery vehicles on track all the time in Super GT races. Not saying it's right at all, but that's the best explanation I can give for why it happened.

I’m sorry but Gasly passed the site of Sainz’s crash at speed, despite knowing the Ferrari had crashed & was stricken on the circuit. Sure he wouldn’t & shouldn’t have expected marshals & a recovery vehicle on the circuit, but he should have approached that part of the track with more caution & slowed down. Deserved penalty.

They are brushing off their brush offs ready for tomorrow's master brush off.

On the driver steering wheel under the safety car it says that the safety car is out so what is stopping them from also saying that there is a recovery vehicle on track as well. They could have something like T13 REC VEH flash up on the steering wheel to show that there is a vehicle on track and roughly where it is.

Remember when Michael Masi was fired because the fia thought he'd cause another incident like Jules's? Not even a year later and his replacements nearly do exactly that. I bet they won't be punished for this either considering how spineless the fia is being with the teams that broke the budget cap.

It’s like leclerc said, no tractor until all cars are off track...

So it's OK to drive 250kph if it was only Carlos"s car half way across the track? did he think it would magically vanish when he drove past it full speed?

6:43 So it's more acceptable to go 251 in that situation when there's a crane on track compared to when there isn't?!

FIA should implement a speed limit (like the pit lane but gps controlled) zone around the incident. Even without a tractor on track, a marshal was to recover the car and or driver, there are other lives at risk too other than the driver. F1 car going at high speed through an incident zone is unacceptable even if the trick is to stay within a delta zone sector of a safety car period. Drivers will take advantage in any situation to get back to the race, be it yellow or double yellow sectors, we have seen it many times in the past with or without incidents.

The recovery truck is really fast. Within 2 seconds it moves from its parking spot to being on the side of the track and standing still. Great acceleration and great brakes.

Was there a double yellow in that sector where Sainz crashed? If yes, then Gasly is actually at fault even if we ignore that the redflag came out. Going this fast under yellow is just unacceptable from him. Yellow flags are there to show that there is an obstacle on track (Sainz car).

There is no credit to be given to the FIA over launching a review. They did it because they realised blaming Pierre wasn't going to work after the drivers got too publically vocal to avoid, plain and simple - it's a backpedal not a progression.

But that's just how they tow away cars... There is not another option except, red flagging, which is very unnecessary. Just drive slow; there is double yellow. There have been cranes on track plenty of times...

lets not forget that sainz’s crash was the cause of the teams being able to start on inters. we can have race starts on wets and let the teams come up with a strategy for it. it’s dumb as hell they could start on inters

Gasly was not prepared to stop so it was his fault. "A double yellow comes into play if the hazard is wholly or partly blocking the track and/or there are marshals working on or beside the track. In this case, a driver must reduce speed 'significantly', not overtake and be prepared to change direction or stop."

What's absolute insane about this situation and the statements on Gasly's driving, is that it wouldn't matter if he was doing 200mph or 20mph. The conditions were so bad it wouldn't have even needed a mistake. Look at the initial Sainz incident, he doesn't make an error, like Jenson said on commentary normally it's barely even a corner. Just had no control. There has to be a serious investigation into this. I also can't imagine what it must have been like for the drivers, especially those close to Bianchi

The FIA needs to be sacked! How much more of their incompetence must we endure until there is another fatality. F1 should privatize their own governance

If it's a red flag with a crane they have to wait for everyone to come in and if there's Marshall's it needs to be a safety car asap.