Jules Bianchi’s father fumes at FIA: “No respect for the life of the driver”

Jules Bianchi’s father has hit out at the FIA’s safety measures over the incident involving Pierre Gasly at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly

“No respect for the life of the driver,” raged Phillipe Bianchi. “No respect for Jules’ memory - incredible.”

Jules Bianchi passed away in 2015, nine months after an accident at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

On Sunday at Suzuka amid horrific wet conditions, the race was red flagged on the second lap due to Carlos Sainz crashing out but it was an incident involving Gasly which angered Bianchi’s father.

Scary onboard footage showed Gasly, already with an advertising hoarding stuck in his car, driving past a recovery vehicle while the race had already been red flagged.

“I could have killed myself,” AlphaTauri driver Gasly raged afterwards. “There’s this f****** tractor while I’m driving flat-out."

After the race, Gasly was handed a drive-through penalty - converted into a 20-second time penalty - for speeding under the red flag. 

The FIA did acknowledge that Gasly was distracted by the tractor on track.

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