'I could have killed myself': Gasly fumes - and summoned - over tractor incident
Gasly had just made a pit stop at the end of the first lap after an advertising hoarding became stuck on the front wing of his car following Carlos Sainz's crash.
On-board footage showed Gasly passing a recovery vehicle on the circuit after the race had been red-flagged with conditions worsening and rain getting heavier.
The Frenchman, who has just signed for Alpine for F1 2023, was left fuming over team radio at the incident with his visibility impaired by the spray.
“God! What the?! What is this tractor?! What is this tractor on track? I passed next to it, This is unacceptable! What has happened? Can’t believe this," he said.
Gasly was overheard saying “I could have killed myself. There’s this f****** tractor while I’m driving flat-out" while explaining the incident to the AlphaTauri pit wall.
Pretty sure this shows the race going red just before Gasly reaches the recovery vehicle. It should not be on track until the field was all behind the Safety Car. That's why Gasly was understandably raging #F1 #JapaneseGPhttps://t.co/6kZWUELWIq
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) October 9, 2022
In relation to the incident, the FIA said: "The Safety Car had been deployed and the race neutralised. Car 10, which had collected damage and pitted behind the Safety Car, was then 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."
Gasly has been summoned to see the Suzuka stewards for speeding under the red flag conditions.
The summons notice said "car 10 reached speeds of up to 250 km/h when completing the lap under the red flag after passing the scene of the incident."
At the last wet Japanese Grand Prix in 2014, Jules Bianchi suffered severe head injuries when he crashed into a recovery vehicle. The Frenchman died from his injuries nine months later.
After passing the crane, Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel said over the radio: "Next time, they should inform us if there's a fricking tractor on the road.
"I know we're under Safety Car, but in turn 12, there's this..."
Alexander Wurz, director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), tweeted: "I think we need to discuss a tractor on track. We can keep it short: this must not happen guys."
Meanwhile, McLaren's Lando Norris was also very critical about the incident on social media.
Wtf. How’s this happened!? We lost a life in this situation years ago. We risk our lives, especially in conditions like this. We wanna race. But this… Unacceptable.
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) October 9, 2022
