Pierre Gasly wasn't the only person who feared for his life at the Japanese Grand Prix after a marshal came scarily close to being hit.
A first lap crash saw Carlos Sainz smash into a barrier after losing control of his Ferrari. He was uninjured in the crash, but his car was far too heavily damaged to continue. The race was put under double yellows and then a red flag as marshals attended to the Ferrari.
Gasly, who was hit by an advertising board in the incident, pitted and then approached the back of the pack coming within metres of a recovery tractor and also a marshal which caught him completely by surprise.
Shouting on team radio he said: "God! What the?! What is this tractor?! What is this tractor on track? I passed next to it, This is unacceptable! What has happened? Can't believe this... I could have f***ing killed myself."
The FIA seemingly blamed Gasly for carrying too much speed when the race was under red flags giving him a 20-second penalty. The Frenchman later clarified his high speed punishment was for earlier in the lap and not when he passed the marshal and tractor on the course.
Later the Frenchman reflected on an incident and said the tractor or marshal shouldn't have been on the course when visibility was so poor. He posted on Twitter : "Glad to go home safe tonight. For the respect of Jules, all his family and for our safety and the one of the marshals, there should never be any tractor nor marshals on track in such conditions with such poor visibility. Period."
Red Bull boss Christian Horner also called for a probe into what he described as an "extremely dangerous" moment
Jules Bianchi's dad slammed Japanese Grand Prix chiefs for the incident that happened eight years after his son died from injuries sustained at the same course.
Bianchi's Marussia crashed into a recovery vehicle at Suzuka in 2014, causing very serious injuries for the driver. Sadly, the Frenchman died nine months later as a result – he remains the last Formula 1 driver to die in a crash.
His father Philippe Bianchi was left shocked that safety chiefs at the Japanese GP allowed a tractor onto the course with Gasly passing in poor visibility under red flags.
"No respect for the life of the driver, no respect for Jules memory," Bianchi posted on social media.
Following the Bianchi tragedy, Formula 1 brought in extensive measures seemingly to prevent a similar incident from happening again, including the introduction of the Virtual Safety Car.
