Formula 1 has always been a ludicrously dangerous sport, but a lot of progress has been made in recent years regarding safety.
The sport is not as raw or brutal as it was in the days of Niki Lauda or Ayrton Senna. The cars are a lot more resilient to impacts, and the halo has solidified its position as a great addition. Even so, that does not mean we don’t see incidents that make us hold our breath.
I think many people can still vividly remember Romain Grosjean’s crash in Bahrain or Zhou Guanyu upside-down at Silverstone. Both drivers luckily made it out and are still pursuing racing careers, with Grosjean having moved to IndyCar, but this goes to show that F1 still has room for improvement.
Everyone who climbs into any kind of race car is aware that there are risks involved, and they willingly take them. But it is here that a problem appears, in the form of risks that the drivers are not aware of, as was the case today during the Japanese Grand Prix.
The start of the race was a bit chaotic, with multiple incidents happening in the first lap due to the wet conditions. A crash for Carlos Sainz at turn 12 prompted a safety car to come out, followed by a red flag. However, before the field could return to the pits while following behind the safety car, a recovery vehicle had already gone out and was stationary on the track.
Photo: Formula 1
Pierre Gasly was the last one to pass the crane as he was catching up to the back of the pack, and he was furious that there was a recovery vehicle out on the track while cars were still passing. The track was worsening and visibility was poor, to put it mildly. This categorically means that there should not have been a crane out on the track before all the cars made it back to the pits.
This obviously infuriated the French driver, causing him to shout over the radio in bewilderment at the situation and urge people to remember what happened to Jules Bianchi in 2014. The Alpha Tauri driver has to take some of the blame for going because he was speeding. Still, this does not take away from the fact that there should not have been a recovery vehicle out on the track, especially in such poor conditions,and with some drivers unaware of it.
Other drivers, including Lando Norris and Sergio Perez, were not happy about the situation either and took to Twitter to express that what happened was unacceptable. They both hinted at the risks involved with such decisions and mentioned the eerily similar incident that also happened at Suzuka in 2014 when Jules Bianchi sadly crashed into a recovery vehicle and lost his life. Carlos Sainz also explained how even behind a safety car, the speeds are still considerable and any minor mistake or aquaplaning can lead to disaster.
Photo: Twitter / Martin Brundle
Even people who were safe in the paddock expressed their concern with Martin Brundle saying there should have been an instant red flag and nothing out on track before the race had been neutralized. Red Bull boss Christian Horner also added to the comments urging for a full investigation regarding the incident.
No matter if you think drivers have to take some of the blame for speeding, an event like this is totally unacceptable. A recovery vehicle should never be on track while the cars are not yet packed behind the safety car or in the pits. This is accentuated even more by the poor conditions hampering their visibility and making them more susceptible to errors or loss of control over the car.
Wtf. How’s this happened!? We lost a life in this situation years ago. We risk our lives, especially in conditions like this. We wanna race. But this… Unacceptable.
As a kid, Bogdan grew up handing his dad the tools needed to work on his old Citroen and asking one too many questions about everything happening inside the engine bay. Naturally, this upbringing led Bogdan to become an engineer, but thanks to Top Gear, The Fast and the Furious series, and racing video games, a passion for automotive entertainment was ignited. Full profile
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