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Lewis Hamilton and other F1 drivers will face urgent safety talks with the FIA ahead of the United States Grand Prix weeks after Pierre Gasly almost collided with a tractor in Japan. Gasly was furious after coming close to striking the recovery vehicle which was put on the side of the track to recover Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari during the opening stages of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The incident led to passionate calls for talks with the FIA to ensure the situation didn’t happen again. After the chequered flag in Suzuka, Ted Kravitz suggested all drivers will demand “serious discussions” with race officials over the close shave.
The FIA have now granted drivers their wish with a meeting to be held as part of the drivers’ briefing ahead of the weekend.
The report said: “The FIA Race Director will hold a review of the incidents in Suzuka during the United States Grand Prix Drivers’ Briefing to explain what solutions the FIA plans to introduce to avoid a repeat of the situation in the future and to remind the Drivers of the rules relating to safety cars and red flags.”
Gasly described the tractor incident as “unacceptable” while Sebastian Vettel, Nicholas Latifi and Fernando Alonso all made their concerns clear.
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They added: “The panel determined that in hindsight, as the weather conditions were changing, it would have been prudent to have delayed the deployment of the recovery vehicles on track.
“It was acknowledged that every effort should be made to perform an efficient and safe recovery of cars. A longer recovery period, in conditions such as those which prevailed in Suzuka, may result in a race suspension.
“It was also acknowledged that while the safety car is used to neutralise a race, the FIA has control over the cars directly behind the safety car, but it does not have sufficient control over the cars that are elsewhere around the track.”
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