F1’s Pierre Gasly ‘grateful’ to be alive after crane on track at Japanese Grand Prix

The Formula One driver Pierre Gasly has said he was just metres away from being killed at the Japanese Grand Prix after he came close to hitting a crane on the track at Suzuka. His anger at the incident was echoed across the grid as almost every driver condemned the decision to use the vehicle on track.

The driver Jules Bianchi died as a result of the injuries he suffered at the Japanese GP in 2014 when his car hit a recovery vehicle. While the rules around the use of such vehicles has been changed since, once more cars were driving in heavy rain and limited visibility at Suzuka when a crane was deployed on track and it prompted a furious reaction.

AlphaTauri’s Gasly was catching up with the field behind the safety car at 200km/h when he passed the recovery vehicle on the racing line. “We lost Jules eight years ago in similar conditions, with a crane on track,” he said. “I don’t understand how eight years later we can see a crane on the racing line. I am extremely grateful that I am still standing. Still able to call my family, my loved ones, and nothing happened. I was two metres away from passing away today, which isn’t acceptable as a racing driver.”

The sport will be looking to the FIA to explain what happened. The crane should not have been deployed until the entire pack had been bunched up or until the race was red-flagged and all the cars had returned to the pit lane.

The decision to deploy recovery vehicles is in the hands of the FIA’s race director, with the international sporting code unequivocal on the subject. “No marshal or vehicle shall enter the circuit perimeter without permission from race control,” it reads.

Other drivers were equally angry they had not been warned the recovery vehicle was on the track