adminAlpine driver Pierre Gasly mercifully avoided a devastating collision at the Japanese Grand Prix, speeding past a tractor while another car was being recovered.
Pierre Gasly held talks with F1 chiefs after narrowly avoiding what could have been a fatal collision at the Japanese Grand Prix.
In a chaotic start, race officials deployed a recovery vehicle on to the track while cars were still running after a crash on the first lap. But with visibility poor in the torrential conditions, the Alpine man did not see the yellow truck as he sped past, before venting his anger over team radio.
“God! What the?! What is this tractor?! What is this tractor on track?” the Frenchman shouted to his race engineer. “I passed next to it, This is unacceptable! What has happened? Can’t believe this. I could have f****** killed myself.”
A number of fellow drivers also voiced their disdain for what had transpired, with the incident coming eight years after Jules Binachi has been killed on the exact track in almost identical circumstances. Red Bull boss Christian Horner called for a probe into what he described as an “extremely dangerous” moment.
Gasly was more measured when he later took to Twitter, posting: “Glad to go home safe tonight. For the respect of Jules, all his family and for our safety and the one of the marshals, there should never be any tractor nor marshals on track in such conditions with such poor visibility. Period.”
The Frenchman was given a 20-second time penalty for red flag speeding, and also revealed that he held talks with officials afterwards to establish why: “For clarity, as discussed with the stewards, the penalty was given for going too fast between T14 and T15 which isn’t where the tractor was, I slowed down, but not enough and I take the blame for it,” he said.-DailyMirror.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter