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Red flag at Suzuka, teams completely abandon full wets as Sainz crashes

9 October 2022 at 06:34
  • GPblog.com

The FIA has decided to issue a red flag after two laps of driving in the Japanese Grand Prix. The standing start initially seemed to go off without a hitch, but especially in the kilometres that followed, things went wrong a few times. It was enough reason for race control to bring all the cars inside.

All drivers started on intermediates, apart from Pierre Gasly. The full wets are not a driver's favourite because it is a poor rain tyre, it overheats quickly and the wear is high. However, intermediates do not drain enough water while driving.

Carlos Sainz went into the wall, Sebastian Vettel spun and so did Guanyu Zhou. For Sainz and Albon, the race is already definitely over. The latter had to stop his Williams by the side with a technical malfunction.

Drivers complained over the team about the dangerous conditions and aquaplaning. Race control listened to the drivers and waved the red flag.