Norris and Brundle blast ‘unacceptable’ incident with echoes of F1 tragedy

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    Lando Norris and Martin Brundle have demanded answers following the dangerous incident which occurred at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix.

    This morning’s race at Suzuka got underway amid torrential rain. After a host of incidents on the first lap, including a race-ending shunt for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, the safety car was deployed before the race was soon red flagged as conditions worsened.

    However, before the red flag came out, a recovery tractor was allowed onto the track to retrieve Sainz’s vehicle. By that point, Pierre Gasly had pitted to have an advertising board, which had been dislodged by Sainz’s crash, removed from under his front wing.

    READ MORE: Pierre Gasly rages 'I could have f***ing killed myself' after passing tractor at Japanese GP

    Gasly was catching up to the safety car when he passed the recovery vehicle. The Frenchman schemed over team radio “I could have f***ing killed myself.”

    The incident brought back memories of the crash which claimed the life of Jules Bianchi at the same race in similar conditions in 2014. The Manor driver suffered devastating head injuries after colliding with a tractor which was retrieving another car and passed away the following year.

    Today’s incident has sparked outrage among drivers and fans on social media, including McLaren driver Norris, who tweeted during the stoppage: “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.”

    What did you think of the incident? Tell us in the comments section below.

    Sky Sports pundit Brundle, who was commentating on the fateful race eight years ago, tweeted: “Should have been an instant red flag with a stricken car in a critical position in those conditions. Clearly debris on track too. Should NEVER EVER be a tractor on track until the cars are all collected up behind a safety car or in the pits. Gasly can’t take all the blame here.”

    Meanwhile, the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) and former F1 driver, Alex Wurz, tweeted: “I think we need to discuss a tractor on track….. we can keep it short: this must NOT happen guys.”

    Gasly is also being questioned for driving too fast under the safety and has been called to face the stewards.

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