Suzuka tractor incident: 'Procedural issues' have been identified by the FIA

The FIA has confirmed that "procedural issues have been identified" in the case involving the ill-timed deployment of a recovery vehicle in F1's recent Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

The race was neutralized shortly after the start following Carlos Sainz's crash in the wet conditions, as the Spaniard's stricken Ferrari sat on the racing line and needed to be evacuated.

The local marshals sent out a tractor recovery vehicle out on the track, just as cars ran past the danger zone behind the safety car, in near zero-visibility conditions.

The timing of the tractor's deployment and the risk it represented was heavily criticized by drivers, especially AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly who arrived on the spot as he was catching up with the field only to be surprised by the vehicle's presence.

• Read also: Recovery vehicle incident at Suzuka draws anger from F1 drivers

The FIA subsequently ordered an investigation into the incident, and on Wednesday, at the conclusion of a meeting by the governing body's World Motor Sport Council in London, it revealed that "procedural issues have been identified and will be corrected in the short and medium term".

The WMSC added that the findings of the investigation "will be made public in the coming days" in a report.

The meeting also yielded several other decisions on the safety front related to F1's present and future regulations.

"For the 2023 Formula 1 Technical Regulations, they included an increase in the size of mirrors for better “blind-spot” visibility and improvement of brake circuit definition," stated the WMSC.

"Further improvements were made to the regulations on roll hoops which were strengthened following an FIA investigation into the accident involving Zhou Guanyu at the British Grand Prix.

"In the 2022 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, the procedure to determine grid positions after multiple penalties have been applied was clarified."

Regarding Formula 1's current cost-cap saga, the WMSC did not release any new information related to Red Bull and Aston Martin's transgressions of the sport's financial regulations that were announced on October 10.

"The WMSC was updated in connection with the ongoing discussions with teams following the end of the first-ever review under the FIA F1 Financial Regulations," was all the FIA offered on the controversial matter.

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