Pierre Gasly has been called to the stewards' office for speeding under the red flag in Sunday's interrupted Japanese Grand Prix.
The race was neutralized behind the safety car after a single and then red flagged due to heavy rain and dangerous conditions.
Gasly had pitted after the opening lap after hitting an advertising board that had become loose following a spin and contact by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and which had damaged the AlphaTauri's front wing.
As Gasly headed back out on the track, the red flag was deployed but the Frenchman pressed on to catch the field, passing at one point a flatbed recovery truck running on the side of the track.
The site of the truck infuriated Gasly: “What the?? What the?? What is this tractor?? What is this tractor on track?” said Gasly over team radio.
“I passed next to it… This is unacceptable. What just happened? I can’t believe this.”
However, the stewards' interest was not the dangerous presence of the recovery vehicle on the racing line but Gasly's speed.
“Car 10 reached speeds of up to 250km/h [155mph] when completing the lap under the red flag after passing the scene of the incident,” said the document that summoned Gasly.
The stewards' statement suggested that Gasly's speeding relates to the remainder of the lap once he had passed the incident site.
In a statement to the media, the FIA later said: “In relation to the recovery of the incident on lap three, the safety car had been deployed and the race neutralized.
“Car 10 [Gasly], 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.”
This is unbelievable. Race director has to be held accountable for this situation. pic.twitter.com/hLI6w2mkWt
— Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) October 9, 2022
The incident obviously recalled the dramatic events that took place at Suzuka in 2014 and which led to the death of Jules Bianchi who had slid off the track and hit a recovery vehicle working at a corner covered by double yellow flags.
Like Gasly, McLaren's Lando Norris deemed the the recovery vehicle's presence "unacceptable".
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
The FIA's attempt to focus blame on Gasly rather on the timing of sending a recovery vehicle out on track won't go down well with competitors.
However, it's also possible that in this case both parties could be at fault.
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