Bianchi tragedy prompts new FIA safety measures

The FIA is set to impose new safety measures following what president Jean Todt described as the "tragedy" of Jules Bianchi’s horrific accident in Japan on Sunday, which has left the Frenchman fighting for his life.

On Monday Todt commissioned FIA race director Charlie Whiting to draw up a detailed report looking at the circumstances and cause of the incident in which Bianchi crashed into a recovery vehicle at Suzuka.

With that report handed to Todt yesterday, the bottom line according to Whiting is “nothing could have been done better” due to what was “a perfect storm” of conditions that led to the smash.

Whiting confirmed under double-waved yellow flag conditions, present at the time and when a driver is meant to slow considerably, Bianchi did scrub off some speed, although declined to state how much.

The 25-year-old Frenchman, rather than spinning off track as occurred to Adrian Sutil in his Sauber a lap earlier, and whose car was being recovered, managed to catch his Marussia as it hit a patch of water. That resulted in Bianchi spearing off track at a particular angle and in turn ramming into the recovery vehicle, sustaining injuries to his brain which have placed his life on the line.

During a media briefing at the Sochi Autodrom, scene of the inaugural Russian Grand Prix on Sunday, Whiting showed video footage from cameras placed at the scene.

Whiting was able to confirm the correct safety signals were in place at the time, with no blame attached to any marshal as they all did their jobs correctly. But, as with any incident such as the one on Sunday, lessons can be learned, with the FIA to now consider imposing an automated speed limit on cars during double-waved yellow flag periods.

There is also the prospect recovery vehicles, such as the one seen at Suzuka, may possess ’skirts’ given the ground clearance they carry in relation to the low cockpit height of a Formula One car.

Whiting conceded it is “highly unlikely” the speed limit is something that can be introduced this weekend, particularly as all team bosses first have to be consulted, with a meeting scheduled for today. Meanwhile with three successive wins behind him to open up a 10-point cushion over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg at the top of standings, Lewis Hamilton finished the second practice day comfortably ahead of his main title rival.

The 29-year-old Briton, with the teams switching to the faster soft-compound Pirelli tyres in the afternoon session, posted a lap of one minute 39.630 seconds.

Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg is to switch back to a conservative approach after admitting to an attempt at creativity that failed. Looking for any edge he can gain over Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in their battle for this year’s Formula One world title, Rosberg tried something different in the second practice session. After finishing just 0.065secs quicker than Hamilton at the end of the first run, Rosberg ended the second almost a second down on the Briton.

That left Rosberg fourth on the timesheet after the first day of running at F1’s newest venue, set in the Olympic Park that was at the heart of the Winter Games earlier this year. Reflecting on his day’s work, and a circuit he rates as “very enjoyable” and “cool to drive”, Rosberg said: “That was a very productive day from an engineering point of view.

“The team decided to go two different ways in terms of set-up. I took a very creative set-up for my car in the second session, which didn’t work out.

“So we will go back to the conservative way for tomorrow, because we saw Lewis was very quick with that.”

Hamilton, who holds a 10-point lead over Rosberg after a run of three successive victories, immediately appeared at home on the track.

A happy Hamilton said: “I like the new circuit. It’s got really good grip and great corners, with a lot at medium speed. It’s good fun.