Valtteri Bottas does not understand that the race direction authorized the start with a normal procedure in Japan, when the rain had been falling for more than an hour. Only the safety car checked the conditions after 30 minutes of waiting.
But the Alfa Romeo F1 driver believes he should have played it safe, as the splashing water made visibility zero. From there, the Finn is not surprised that there was an accident and thinks it could have been worse.
“The first two laps were undriveable, I’m just glad nothing happened,” Bottas said. « I was surprised that we started, because due to the conditions, the visibility was very, very bad. We shouldn’t have started. »
He also points out that the second relaunch, although better in terms of asphalt conditions, was only impractical in terms of visibility: « Even on the second restart, I’m sure from sixth or seventh place it was quite risky. »
Laps under Safety Car would have been cautious « »
Mattia Binotto, the director of Ferrari, joins Bottas and wonders about the lack of verification of the conditions on the track with the safety car and the whole peloton, to get feedback from the drivers about visibility.
« Should we have done a standing start or behind the safety car? » asks Binotto. « At the start, I think starting behind a safety car would have been safer, and safety should always come first. »
« Why am I saying that? Because as soon as we started, all the riders were on intermediate tires which were the fastest tyres, but there was very little grip, very little visibility.
“Perhaps by starting behind the safety car, we could have given ourselves at least a few laps to understand the situation, to have the feedback from the drivers before deciding to start the race. »
Leclerc confirms that the half-hour wait during the protocol saw the conditions on the track deteriorate sharply: “The conditions changed a lot between the grid laps and the first real lap. There was a lot more rain, a lot more standing water, and the visibility was extremely poor.
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