---
title: "What can be learnt from Suzuka"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2014/10/07/what-can-be-learnt-from-suzuka/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Chris Barrass"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2014-10-07T19:08:38Z"
modified: "2014-10-07T19:08:38Z"
---

# What can be learnt from Suzuka

[![Courtesy of Marussia](https://www.f1update.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Marussia_15328_LoRes-300x199.jpg)](https://www.f1update.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Marussia_15328_LoRes.jpg)

Courtesy of Marussia

Lap 44 of the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Adrian Sutil has crashed out and the marshals are using a recovery tractor to clear the Sauber to safety. Jules Bianchi loses control of his Marussia and ploughs straight underneath the recovery vehicle.\
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After a 50G impact, he is rushed to hospital, unconscious, by a police escorted ambulance. After a three hour operation, he is now in intensive care breathing with a respirator. His condition? Critical but stable.\
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Jules is surely a future world champion. He made his debut in 2013 after barely any pre season testing following the late sacking of Luiz Razia before the season had even begun.\
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A member of the Ferrari young driver programme, he outperformed his team mate Max Chilton consistently – and has continued to do so again this year. Indeed, he actually picked up Marussia’s first ever points at the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this year.\
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Following the death of Ayrton Senna at the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Professor Sid Watkins was appointed by the FIA to improve safety in Formula 1.\
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This has seen many changes take place in F1. The tecpro barriers, the high cockpit sides, the survival cells. The list goes on and on and on.\
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So how, then, can the unfortunate accident of Bianchi’s occur?\
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Pundit and commentator Martin Brundle has long been against having tractors at the race weekends. He actually had a similar accident to Bianchi’s at Suzuka 20 years ago, badly injuring a marshal in the process.\
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Following the tragic death of marshal Mark Robinson at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, he once again raised concerns about the tractors that are used at Grand Prix weekends. Yesterday, his concerns were highlighted once again – sadly, needing a big accident for it to occur.\
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The problem is this – the tractors are far too high for Formula 1 cars to be travelling past at full speed.\
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In dry conditions, this isn’t so much of a problem. It is extremely unlikely that two cars will have the same accident so quickly. But in the wet, it is is common for rivers to cause problems – it happened here, and it notoriously happened at Brazil in 2003.\
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What can be done to avoid it then?\
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The live blog ran on the Sky Sports website post race saw many fans suggest Monaco style cranes be used at every track.\
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This is impractical. Cranes are a lot less manoeuvrable than the tractors. On tracks that have few run off areas – like Monaco – this isn’t a problem as there are very few angles that a car can crash at. The marshals also don’t have to worry about being able to adjust its angle, as a tarmac area means they can push it if necessary without it being wedged in the gravel.\
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In the case of Adrian Sutil’s Sauber, though, he was well and truly wedged in the barriers. This would’ve made it extremely difficult for a crane to remove it without manoeuvring.\
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Perhaps, then, we should find some way of lowering the height of the tractors.\
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For those that haven’t seen the violent footage of Bianchi’s crash, the 50G impact meant the car actually lifted the tractor off the ground. This is what caused Jules’ head to hit the underside recovery vehicle.\
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If the car had been unable to fit beneath, one of two things might have happened.\
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The first is good. The car could’ve crashed into the tractor, coming to an instant halt. With the HANS device (another Prof. Watkins invention) and survival cell, Bianchi would’ve walked away – albeit sore and in need of a trip to the medical centre. Similar to what we saw with Giedo van der Garde’s crash at turn 1 last year, or Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez’s race ending crash at Montreal earlier this season.\
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The other alternative, though, doesn’t bare thinking about. The car could’ve lifted the tractor up, but because of the additional weight it might have actually landed and come to rest on Bianchi’s head. The consequences of this are obvious.\
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Closed cockpits have long been talked about as a way of quelling the head threat in open wheel racing.\
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If the Marussia had been fitted with one, it might have helped avoid Jules’ head injury – depending on the strength of the material used. Alternatively, the material wouldn’t be strong enough and we’d be back to square one.\
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There is, though, one thing that could’ve been done. The Safety Car.\
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In wet conditions like that, especially on intermediate tyres, it is so easy to lose control. Had the Safety Car been deployed when it was discovered the tractor was needed, the cars would’ve been travelling slower.\
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Whilst this doesn’t necessarily mean that Bianchi’s apparent aquaplane would’ve been avoided, it would have slowed it down and possibly stopped him from hitting the tractor.\
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So is this something Race Director Charlie Whiting should take into account for next time? I sincerely hope so. I do, however, think two regulations should be added as well, to help prevent this even more.\
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It is well known that the sport’s hierarchy wanted an earlier race start to try and miss the rain – or at least the majority of it.\
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It didn’t happen because the race promoter/track owners (Honda) refused as it might have meant spectators couldn’t have gotten to the track in time.\
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I therefore propose that the FIA introduce a new rule to the sport, one that should be written into every race contract that is made from now on. The FIA should have the final say on the race start time.\
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This may mean that some spectators can’t get to the track in time, but everyone would rather miss some of the race than have a man fighting for his life.\
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A final rule that I think should be introduced is a slight tweak to one that already exists.\
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If the race is started behind the safety car, race control forces all drivers to start on the full wet tyres. The race director also has control over DRS activation. I propose that a rule be introduced that allows the FIA to force all drivers to pit for full wet tyres.\
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This would be simple to add – every driver has three laps from the signal being given to pit and change to full wets or they face disqualification from the race. Giving the teams three laps means they can avoid double stacking their cars if they choose.\
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Sadly, though, it is too late to avoid Jules’ crash. I, and the rest of the F1 world, wish Jules the best of luck in his recovery – we all want you on the grid next year buddy.

\#ForzaJules