adminThe crash that left the French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi in a critical condition with severe head injures was down to bad luck rather than poor judgment by Japanese Grand Prix race officials, a track spokesman said yesterday. The 25-year-old Marussia driver suffered the life-threatening injury on Sunday when he aquaplaned off a wet track and slammed into the back of a recovery tractor that had been deployed to remove Adrian Sutil’s crashed Sauber.
“Officials raised ‘double yellow flags’ after the accident by Sutil, which means drivers had to slow down to the speed that they can immediately stop, but unfortunately Bianchi’s car aquaplaned right at the time and ran into the accident site, which was bad luck,” the Suzuka Circuit spokesman Masamichi Miyazaki said.
“Admittedly, rain was coming and the road was wet, but not heavy enough to halt the race, and I believe the race officials made the same judgment.”
The sport’s governing body, the FIA, said that the president, Jean Todt, has asked the FIA race director, Charlie Whiting, to carry out a detailed report into the precise circumstances of the accident.
The crash brought a premature end to Sunday’s race, with the winner, Lewis Hamilton, and the rest of the paddock turning their attention to the likeable Frenchman, a graduate of Ferrari’s young driver academy.
The Marussia team acknowledged a “huge outpouring of support and affection for Jules and the Team at this very difficult time” on Monday and yesterday the FIA said he was in a “critical but stable condition” at the Mie General Medical Centre in Yokkaichi. — The Guardian
derick.khumalo