Pierre Gasly was enraged after a recovery vehicle was allowed onto the Suzuka track before he had passed in the treacherous conditions, sparking worrying memories of Jules Bianchi's fatal crash in 2014.
Bianchi is the most recent Formula 1 driver to be killed as a result of a crash. It was at this very circuit eight years ago that his Marussia smashed into a recovery vehicle working at the side of the track, and he sadly died in July the following year, nine months after that crash.
And fans were given a worrying reminded of that tragedy at the race on Sunday, which was red flagged after the first lap. Before Gasly had caught up with the safety car pack, he went past a recovery vehicle which had already entered the track to remove Carlos Sainz's stricken Ferrari – and was furious about it over team radio.
"God! What the?! What is this tractor?! What is this tractor on track?" the Frenchman could be heard shouting to his race engineer. "I passed next to it, This is unacceptable! What has happened? Can't believe this... I could have f***ing killed myself."
Fortunately, Gasly avoided making any contact with the recovery vehicle and made it back to the pits safely. But his fury was understandable given the fact it was by the track at that point in the first place indicated previous lessons had not been learned by race control.
Explaining the incident, the FIA said in a statement: "In relation to the recovery of the incident on Lap 3, the Safety Car had been deployed and the race neutralised. Car 10, which had collected damage and pitted behind the Safety Car, was then driving at high speed to catch up to the field. 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."
Philippe Bianchi, the father of Jules, took to social media to vent his anger after seeing the close call. "No respect for the life of the driver, no respect for Jules' memory – incredible," he wrote on Instagram.
Sainz, whose race was over after crashing on the first lap, gave his thoughts on the incident. "I still don't know why in these conditions we keep risking having a tractor on-track, because it's just worthless. If you're going to red flag it anyway, why risk it?" the Ferrari driver told Sky Sports F1.
Meanwhile, Alex Albon – also out of the race early on – revealed Sebastian Vettel had raised the issue of recovery vehicles being on track earlier this week in a drivers' meeting. "There will be discussions at the next race [Austin] as to why that recovery vehicle was allowed on track," said the British-Thai racer.
The incident will have hit particularly close to home for Gasly, who counted Bianchi as a childhood friend. He has previously laid flowers in remembrance of the late racer at the same section of the Suzuka track where his fatal accident took place. And Bianchi is not the only close friend Gasly has lost as a result of a racing crash. Anthoine Hubert died as a result of his injuries while racing in Formula 2 in 2019, at the Belgian Grand Prix.
