Villeneuve understands drivers' 'fuss' over Suzuka tractor drama

Ex-F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve says drivers were right to denounce the presence of an intervention vehicle on the track at Suzuka last weekend.

The Japanese Grand Prix was neutralized shortly after the start following Carlos Sainz's crash that required the evacuation of the Spaniard's Ferrari by a tractor.

However, the crane rolled out onto the track as cars ran past behind the safety car, in near zero-visibility conditions.

AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly who was catching up with the field after a pitstop was outraged when he passed the scene of the crash and noted the tractor on the racing line as well as two marshals that were in harm's way.

The FIA has ordered an investigation into the incident but Villeneuve believes that Suzuka should change the barriers at the kink-like corner where Sainz crashed and which is located on the run up to Spoon Corner.

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"I have always found that kink dangerous, ever since I raced there in F3," Villeneuve wrote in his column for Formule1.net.

"In dry weather it’s like a straight, easy full throttle. But in rain it becomes tricky, it’s a small kink with a tyre wall on the outside with billboards.

"An impact with a guardrail or wall would be better than this option, the car spins and slides on and that would be fine. Sainz was not going that fast at all but driving on ice, so to speak."

Villeneuve added that the outrage over the tractor's ill-timed presence on the track was absolutely warranted.

"I totally understood the fuss about the trucks on the track when Pierre Gasly had yet to pass," said the 1997 F1 World Campion.

"Strictly speaking it is allowed by the rules, after all the race was neutralized. In dry weather nobody would care, in rain it is a different story. Then this really should never happen.

"You can’t always see where you are, there may be cars driving around with damage to suspension, brakes or a flat tyre.

"Even at low speed, a collision with such a vehicle is very dangerous. Emotions ran so high I thought was only logical given the past with Jules Bianchi."

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