Pierre Gasly was left fuming with race control after he had a near miss with a recovery vehicle during the opening laps of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The race started under wet conditions, but as the rain intensified during the opening lap, cars struggled to stay on track with Carlos Sainz crashing heavily into the wall. That was followed by Guanyu Zhou spinning at the hairpin and Gasly collecting a signage board, which damaged his front wing.
The Safety Car was then issued for Sainz’s stranded Ferrari and yellow flags shown. Gasly then rounded the corner and came across a tractor recovery vehicle which was on the track. But with near zero visibility thanks to the rain, it only appeared at the last second, with the Frenchman just metres away as he passed by.
“God, what the? What is this tractor? What is this tractor on track?” He said over team radio. “I passed next to it, like… This is unacceptable! What has happened? I can’t believe this…”
A red flag was then shown, with the FIA determining that the rain was too heavy to continue racing.
Gasly returned to his garage and was heard shouting at his team: “I could have f**king been killed.” He was then seen walking down to race control with a senior member of staff.
The incident brings back memories of the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, when Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle in wet weather. The Frenchman passed away from the injuries he sustained in that crash.
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