Jules Bianchi’s father reacts to Pierre Gasly’s near-collision with recovery vehicle at Japanese Grand Prix

The father of the late Jules Bianchi has expressed his anger following Pierre Gasly’s collision with a recovery tractor at the Japanese Grand Prix.

In extremely wet conditions at the Suzuka circuit, the safety car was deployed after just one lap after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. spun into the barriers.

With visibility limited and the rain not easing off, the race was subsequently red-flagged 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.

The incident brought up memories of Jules Bianchi’s fatal crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, when the Frenchman died from injuries sustained after crashing into a recovery vehicle.

Following the tragedy, Formula 1 brought in extensive measures to prevent a similar incident from occurring, including the introduction of the Virtual Safety Car.

But after Gasly’s near-collision, after which the Frenchman claimed: ‘I could have f*****g killed myself!’ and made reference to Bianchi, Philippe Bianchi expressed his shock at what he had witnessed.

‘No respect for the life of the driver no respect for Jules memory,’ he posted on social media.

Many of the drivers on the grid have commented on the matter, including Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who tweeted: ‘How can we make it clear that we never want to see a crane on track? We lost Jules because of that mistake.

‘What happened today is totally unacceptable!!! I hope this is the last time ever I see a crane on track!’

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