UGH. Sickened.
This is the first forum I've expressed any thoughts about the Bianchi crash. There were plenty of things from the race* I'd have preferred to speak of here and I agree with the idea of a dedicated thread, so I'd be happy to find this comment moved, along with any others which make no reference to the race itself.
When cars are on Inters, DRS activation becomes a possibility, since it is at the discretion of the Race Director.
It seems you were the first to express the possibility of the true nature of this ghastly incident. For fear of exactly what transpired, I was very, very surprised the Safety Car was not deployed immediately Sutil slid off, since his car was itself in a very dangerous position, never mind before allowing a JCB to attempt a recovery in very poor driving conditions in the acceleration zone of a fast part of the circuit where drivers are already 'on the gas' before being able to even see the crash-site…
Rant not over. Delaying the SC was a monstrous oversight; it should have been out immediately. Of course, I accept the possibility that there was inadequate communication between those at the scene and Race Control – but this incident should never have occurred. Really, I cannot think of a more justified 'deploy the SC right now' situation…
There was a need to clear the scene if the race was to continue and mobile cranes are necessarily big and heavy. But the size and nature of the recovery vehicle is not a problem if the situation is correctly contained.
I believe Bianchi was approaching the scene of Sutil's crash at roughly the speed of most. Relative to them, Bianchi's speed was certainly not excessive. However, it is perhaps worth noting that his team-mate, Chilton, drove past the scene pretty much at racing speed, fortunately without incident.
*For the time being, I'll leave thoughts about the race until later.
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