The FIA confirmed that it has found the “procedural issues” which went wrong in the previous round of the 2022 Formula 1 season, the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit and will provide details about its conclusions in the next days.
However that confirmation, made with an official press statement earlier today following the World Motor Sport Council meeting which was made in London, did not inform precisely what events in the Japanese Grand Prix it was referring to. The Suzuka race was marked by a big safety controversy at the start and then a confusing finish which led to even Max Verstappen not knowing if he had won the 2022 Formula One world championship.
“As stated immediately after the race, the FIA has undertaken a thorough analysis of the incidents which took place at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka,” said the FIA statement – “Procedural issues have been identified and will be corrected in the short and medium term. The findings will be made public in the coming days.”
French driver Pierre Gasly was rightfully upset for encountering a recovery truck on the circuit just as the event was red-flagged due to the wet conditions and after the crash suffered by Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz on the opening lap.
This led to painful memories of the death of Jules Bianchi, caused by the impact with a recovery tractor at Suzuka back in 2014.
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“We lost Jules eight years ago in similar conditions with a crane on track in the gravel. I don’t understand how eight years [later] in similar conditions, we can still see a crane, not even in the gravel but on the racing line. Not respectful towards Jules, his family and his loved ones, and all of us. It was a dramatic incident and on that day, we learned that we don’t want to see any tractors in these kind of conditions. If I’d have lost the car in a similar way to Carlos lost it the lap before, I was doing 200km/h – but that’s not even the matter, if I was doing 100km/h, [and came across a] 12-tonne crane, if I hit it, I would be dead right now.” – Pierre Gasly explained.
The Scuderia AlphaTauri driver was attempting to recover the gap to the pack under safety car conditions at the time, after pitting for repairs, while adding that he was respecting the required laptime delta before the red flag came out.
First the FIA pointed out to Pierre Gasly’s speed, investigating him after the race and eventually penalising him for driving too fast under red flag conditions.
However, the FIA then confirmed it would carry out a full investigation regarding the recovery vehicle moment, and referenced the “shock” Gasly would have felt at passing it as a mitigating factor when imposing his penalty.
The confusion at the finish regarded the new-for-2022 provision of varying levels of reduced points allocations for shortened races.
Teams were working on the basis that this would apply, which meant Max Verstappen was not expected to extend his points advantage over Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez enough to win the title at the Suzuka circuit.
But immediately after the race it became clear that full points would be awarded because the wording of the rule around the reduced allocations was phrased as applying if a race was stopped and “cannot be resumed”. In the case of the Japanese GP, it was stopped, resumed and then halted due to the time limit running out – a scenario that was not accounted for in the rules wording.
A full points score meant the Dutchman was able to win the title, but just when Charles Leclerc’s post-race penalty for how he rejoined after his last-lap chicane incident was confirmed.
The points rule had been introduced in response to the furore over the 2021 Belgian GP, where half-points were awarded for a race that was officially only one lap long and entirely behind the safety car.
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