In the wake of Jules Bianchi’s passing, four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost still deplores the circumstances of the 25-year-old’s Suzuka crash and feels the sport’s safety standards can always be improved.
Bianchi died in a Nice hospital on Friday night, having never recovered from the heavy head injuries he sustained when his Marussia hit a tractor crane at a rain-affected Japanese Grand Prix last October.
“I just think there was a small misjudgement that cost very dearly,” Prost told French news TV channel I-Télé.
“There was an accident, pouring rain and appalling visibility. There should have been a safety car to slow the race down before the recovery truck went on track: that's the misjudgement.”
Bianchi became the first F1 casualty since Prost’s archival Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger both perished on track during the 1994 San Marino race weekend.
And while former grand prix winner David Coulthard thinks danger can not be totally eliminated from F1, Prost insists this should not prevent the series from working towards this objective.
“They have done a lot for safety. We had not had a fatal crash in F1 for 21 years, it means that a lot of work was done.
“But like everywhere, there's always a little bit more to be done. The only thing that still was to be done for safety was about this recovery truck that goes on the circuit.”
Bianchi's Suzuka accident led to the introduction of the Virtual Safety Car procedure, while the Grand Prix Drivers Associations paid tribute to the Frenchman's memory by vowing to "never relent" in its safety efforts.
F1 drivers pay tribute to Bianchi after death at 25
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