Bianchi Accident: Alain Prost Remains Furious
Many reactions followed the terrible accident that Jules Bianchi fell victim to during the Japanese Grand Prix in F1. Among them was Alain Prost, who expressed his fury about the circumstances of the Frenchman's crash.
The four-time French world champion, Alain Prost, spoke about Jules Bianchi’s accident in the pages of Autosport, and expressed his fury at the way events unfolded in Suzuka two weeks ago.
According to him, the FIA needs to completely rethink its interventions to clear a car (this time, in this case, Adrian Sutil’s Sauber) after going off the track: « I don’t want to create controversy about the FIA, because I have great respect for what they have done in terms of safety over the last twenty years. The cars and circuits have improved. There was only one thing left to do: it was that damn vehicle on the track. »
For Alain Prost, bringing out a construction vehicle so close to the track while the cars were still speeding was purely and simply a mistake: « I was furious. I was really shocked by this accident. There are procedures. But the weather conditions were worsening, with more and more water, so visibility was very poor. Therefore, you cannot make the same decisions regarding the procedure if the conditions are so bad. That is why I say that I am not convinced. In these conditions, and particularly with all the experience we have in the field of safety, there should be zero risk. »
Even though he believes that the race management did not necessarily adapt well to the extreme conditions that prevailed in Japan during the race, he also admits that Jules Bianchi was unlucky during his incident: « At the start, it was safe when the race began behind the safety car. It was a difficult decision to stop the race after two or three laps and then restart it. That’s why I was shocked, because at that point in the race, we made the right decision. It’s really unfortunate, but we can’t really judge the causes of the accident, we can only learn from the consequences. We shouldn’t see this. If it were my son, I wouldn’t want to see this kind of accident with a truck on a Formula 1 track. That’s what I cannot accept. »
Since the accident, the FIA has provided details following its investigation, indicating that the entire procedure was followed, while also opening the door to certain regulatory changes that should be tested at the next Grand Prix, with a view to implementation in 2015.
