Christian Horner: F1 ‘got lucky’ after ‘unimaginable’ Suzuka scenes

Thomas Maher
Red Bull's Christian Horner at the Singapore Grand Prix. Marina Bay, October 2022.

Red Bull's Christian Horner at the Singapore Grand Prix. Marina Bay, October 2022.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner called upon the FIA to conduct a thorough investigation into the recovery truck incident at Suzuka.

And the FIA have since confirmed that they will launch a ‘thorough review’ into how the truck was allowed on the track when F1 cars were still active on a very wet circuit.

During the early Safety Car intervention and red flag being shown to neutralise the race, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly encountered a recovery tractor on circuit millimetres from the racing line – the tractor on its way to pick up the crashed Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

Gasly was understandably furious with the incident, while the FIA summoned the French driver before the stewards for breaking red flag rules – a separate incident which resulted in a drive-through penalty (20 seconds) for Gasly and two points added on his licence.

The incident has evoked memories of the tragic accident that claimed the life of Marussia driver Jules Bianchi at the same event in 2014, with Christian Horner weighing in to label the incident as “totally unacceptable”.

“I mean, we lost [Jules] Bianchi five, six years ago (sic) and that should never ever happen,” he told Sky F1 during the red flag stoppage in Japan.

“So it needs to be a full investigation as to why there was a recovery vehicle on the circuit, Checo [Perez] reported it to us. Of course, in those horrendous conditions where visibility is zero, [it’s] extremely dangerous.”

AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly on track during the Japanese Grand Prix. Suzuka, October 2022.
AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly on track during the Japanese Grand Prix. Suzuka, October 2022.

Horner said it was important to figure out the circumstances that led to the vehicle taking to the track, and how it was given permission to enter the confines of the tarmac.

“The Virtual Safety Car was brought in for a reason, following that awful accident those years ago, and I think there just needs to be a full investigation as to why that vehicle was on track because it certainly shouldn’t have been,” he said.

“Without all the facts, it’s very hard to comment on why that vehicle was on track, what the process is that enables a vehicle to head onto the circuit.

“So I think [we must] allow the FIA to do the full due diligence into it. Because that is something that was decided several years ago that that’s totally unacceptable.”

The Red Bull boss was blunt in his assessment of the situation, saying F1 had been fortunate to avoid a worse outcome.

“I think we got lucky so far,” he said.

“It’s unimaginable when you see something like that. Thankfully, all the drives are in one piece and the right decision was made to red-flag the race.”

Read More: How the Japanese Grand Prix unfolded