Pierre Gasly and several other drivers expressed their fury after the Frenchman narrowly avoided a collision with a recovery vehicle deployed in wet conditions at Suzuka; the FIA has implemented new procedures to avoid a repeat of the incident
Friday 21 October 2022 19:19, UK
The FIA has accepted it was wrong to deploy a recovery vehicle during the Japanese GP and admitted race control were unaware that Pierre Gasly wasn't behind the Safety Car when the decision was made.
Gasly and several other drivers expressed their fury after the Frenchman narrowly avoided a collision with the recovery vehicle, as he attempted to catch up with the pack behind the Safety Car in wet conditions with severely limited visibility following an opening lap crash for Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.
Following a review into the incidents of the November 9 race at Suzuka, the FIA announced on Friday it will implement new procedures - in time for this weekend's United States GP - designed to avoid a repeat of the scenes in Japan.
The FIA said: "The review concluded that all FIA race procedures were followed. After the incident involving the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz at Turn 12, the track was neutralised with the Safety Car before marshals and recovery vehicles were deployed on track.
"The review noted that in such conditions, a recovery vehicle should not be deployed unless all cars are aligned behind the Safety Car. Furthermore, marshals and recovery equipment would only be deployed whilst cars are on track (Safety Car periods) when the weather conditions and location of the cars to be recovered allow for a quick and safe intervention.
"Given the track conditions and the overall visibility for drivers, marshals and recovery staff at the time, initially under a Safety Car followed by a Red Flag, and as efforts were focused on safe recovery, the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly in the Pit Lane was not immediately detected.
"Race Control do not necessarily monitor all cars that may pit during Safety Car periods as they are more concerned about any area containing an incident and neutralising the field behind the Safety Car."
Jules Bianchi died following a similar incident at the same track in 2014 and an emotional Gasly after the race told Sky Sports that the moment had left him fearing for his life.
The FIA statement continued: "Even though it is common practice to deploy recovery vehicles once a race has been neutralised, the review panel discussed whether the entry of the recovery vehicle at Suzuka to retrieve the stricken Ferrari of Carlos Sainz was premature given the prevailing conditions.
"The review panel acknowledged that having recovery cranes on track at Suzuka during the weather conditions is a sensitive matter in view of the tragic incidents of the past. The panel determined that in hindsight, as the weather conditions were changing, it would have been prudent to have delayed the deployment of the recovery vehicles on track.
"It was acknowledged that every effort should be made to perform an efficient and safe recovery of cars. A longer recovery period, in conditions such as those which prevailed in Suzuka, may result in a race suspension."
The FIA said from now on it will use its official messaging system to notify teams a recovery vehicle is on track, and also develop a monitoring system to locate where all cars are during Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car deployments.
Gasly was penalised by the FIA after the Japanese GP for speeding under red-flag conditions, with the Frenchman receiving a 20-second time penalty and two penalty points.
The FIA announced it would, in conjunction with teams, hold a further review of penalty precedents for drivers "not respecting the rules" during interventions from race control, perhaps hinting at harsher punishments in future.
There were further significant announcements in the FIA's review of Japan, with the sport's governing body revealing it will no longer rotate the role of race director for the remaining four races of the season.
The role has been shared by Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas throughout the season following a restructure after Michael Masi's departure at the end of 2021, but Wittich will remain at the helm for the rest of the 2022 campaign. The FIA did not provide a reason for the decision.
Meanwhile, the FIA has confirmed it will "revisit" the wording of its regulations for the awarding of points in shortened races, after Max Verstappen was crowned world champion amid huge confusion in Japan.
The expectation had been that new rules, introduced following a rain-hit race in Belgium last season, would see reduced points awarded in Japan after only 29 of the scheduled 53 laps were completed following a lengthy rain delay.
However, Verstappen was awarded full points - and his second successive world championship - after it was interpreted that reduced points are only applied if a race is suspended "and cannot be resumed".
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said after the race he thought it was a "mistake" that full points were awarded, but the FIA insists the points were distributed "correctly".
The FIA said: "At the Japanese Grand Prix, Article 6.5 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations which covers race time limit and points distribution was applied correctly. However, the wording of the Regulations will be revisited with a view to bringing further clarity during the next review of the Sporting Regulations."
Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle said he was not surprised by the FIA's conclusion that the recovery vehicle should not have been on track when it was.
"It is not a great surprise that they came up with that conclusion because it was pretty obvious," Brundle said.
"But about 30 years ago nearly, I ran into a marshal there and just missed a breakdown truck in my McLaren in some pretty treacherous conditions and smashed the marshal's leg to pieces unfortunately.
"Then of course, tragically in 2014, we effectively at that point we lost the life of Jules Bianchi as he hit a breakdown truck.
"It does seem quite key there, especially some of the older circuits that don't have full service roads and maybe cranes positioned in specific areas as newer tracks do.
"Often in those conditions, it is in those really treacherous conditions that it is most likely to happen, the perfect storm if you like.
"We have had other reviews and enough incidents and near misses at other circuits as well where Formula 1 cars and breakdown vehicles and, probably even more importantly, marshals on the side of the track, they just don't fit together."
