The FIA Will Launch An Investigation Into The Deployment Of Crane At Japanese GP – WTF1
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The FIA Will Launch An Investigation Into The Deployment Of Crane At Japanese GP

We might have crowned a two-time F1 World Champion in Suzuka, but one of the biggest talking points of the Japanese Grand Prix has been the presence of a recovery vehicle on a wet track with cars passing by.

The situation is eerily similar to what we saw with Jules Bianchi at this same event in 2014, and unfortunately, we know how that ended. As a result, F1 drivers have been very critical of the crane being on the circuit and made it clear that lessons have still not been learnt.

We NEVER want to see something like this again, and as a result, the FIA will be looking into the events that lead to that vehicle being on track during the race.

In a statement, the FIA said the following:

“While it is normal practice to recover cars under Safety Car and Red Flag conditions, due to the particular circumstances and also taking into account feedback from of a number of drivers, the FIA has launched a thorough review of the events involving the deployment of recovery vehicles during the Japanese Grand Prix.

“This is part of the common practice of debrief and analysis of all race incidents to ensure continual improvements of processes and procedures.”

During the red flag, drivers like Lando Norris and Sergio Perez tweeted their disgust at the scenario. More drivers have also spoken out about it after the race, which saw Max Verstappen crowned the 2022 World Champion.

We hope this is the last time we see something like this.

8 thoughts on “The FIA Will Launch An Investigation Into The Deployment Of Crane At Japanese GP

  • Just blame it all on Pierre, the weathergods for making it rain, and do not forget to give Carlos a penalty for crashing in an inconvenient spot. No blame will fall on FIA’s lap.

  • Jason Malcolm says:

    What confuses me about this whole situation is we have a little nudge reminder of how ridiculous it is to have plant machinery on the track when the cars are going round at Monza where Ricciardo was being recovered.

    Matt ranted (correctly) about it on the Internet’s Best Reactions too. That was a dry track behind the Safety Car but it has the same connotations if something terrible had happened. I seem to remember DRs car being off the ground and swinging (not a huge amount) about too.

    The FIA need to get a grip. They don’t want them racing in wet conditions but allow them all to go out on inters for the start. Teams shouldn’t of went out on them but it’s a mob mentality of if they’re doing it we have to do it too.

  • ฬ๏ยtєг says:

    People who can just criticize the FIA and accuse them of not giving a damn seem to have forgotten the incredible progress they have made in matters of safety over the past decades and their determination to keep working on it.

    No, things are not perfect (nor will it ever be) and yes we can be critical of incidents and how they are handled, but at least let’s remain constructive and keep going forward in stead of this atmosphere that seems to have grown all the rage in recent years of just throwing toxic hate and accusations around.

    If anything is destroying the sport we all claim to love, that’s it.

    • I 100% agree there’s a lot of toxicity that is hurting the sport, but I don’t think this is an example of that. It’s so true that they have done a ton of work, and they should get a lot of praise for this. And we should never forget that all of those regulations and improvements are written in the blood of dead drivers, spectators, and marshals. Seeing a recovery vehicle on track, in the rain, at Suzuka, kicks up a lot of bad memories for everyone, and screams that the FIA didn’t learn from what happened enough.

      If things get directed at specific people/ad hominum/harassment, or if it becomes a partisan/team thing, then we have an issue, but I haven’t really seen that. People are angry because we were scared. I don’t see that as hate.

      • ฬ๏ยtєг says:

        I agree it wasn’t good, but people totally going off at the FIA is not fair either. Yes, a lot of safety improvements have come from the deaths of drivers, marshalls or spectators, but that’s no different from road safety or airline safety for example. It’s a sad thing, but at least improvements are made and like I said they can always be better and they can also learn from near misses.

        I think the race directors misjudged the visibility because if you look at the fan footage of all the cars behind the SC passing the tractor, visibility didn’t look bad at all, but compared with the view for the drivers it was. So yes, I think they should make it standard in the rain to red flag before recovery vehicles can enter. But also to force cars to drive through the sector(s) of an incident on the pit limiter.

        If the FIA haven’t learned enough from Bianchi (that did see the introduction of the HALO after all), then Gasly (and probably all other drivers) have not learned enough from Hubert’s death. Even if there had not been a recovery vehicle on track, there could have been the Ferrari if it had bounced back on track just a little further, with Sainz potentially still in it, that Gasly could have T-boned going way too fast in 5th gear.

        My point was just that in stead of ranting at the FIA (or at Gasly, which I have also seen), to simply learn from this incident and make it better. And I do have confidence in the FIA that they will do just that.

  • So are we saying no matter what the FIA do they are not accountable?
    Surely if drivers and teams get penalties the FIA should too?

    No one can or will question them. That’s the beginning and the end of it

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