‘I could have f*****g killed myself!’ – Pierre Gasly nearly crashes into recovery tractor at Japanese Grand Prix

The Formula 1 paddock was left shocked and angry after Pierre Gasly was involved in a terrifying near-collision with a recovery tractor at the Japanese Grand Prix.

In extremely wet conditions at the Suzuka circuit, the start of Sunday’s race was a chaotic affair with many drivers spinning off, including Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was subsequently retired.

With visibility limited and the rain not easing off, the race was red-flagged after a short safety car period with a tractor sent onto the track to recover the stricken Ferrari after the pack had driven past the incident.

However, Gasly, who had pitted beforehand after damaging his AlphaTauri, was yet to pass that area of track and as a result came perilously close to hitting the tractor as he attempted to catch up to the rest of the field.

Back at the pits, Gasly was visibly and audibly furious, exclaiming: ‘I could have f*****g killed myself!

‘What is this tractor on track? I passed next to it. This is unacceptable.

‘Remember what happened. Can’t believe this!’

Gasly refers to the fatal crash of Jules Bianchi in 2014, who died from injuries sustained after crashing into a recovery vehicle at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The FIA announced that they would be investigating the incident promptly, and with a later statement appeared to at least partly blame Gasly for what happened: ‘Car 10 [Gasly], which had collected damage and pitted behind the Safety Car, was 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.’

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Karun Chandhok and Paul di Resta take a closer look at the incident involving the recovery