Brundle: Horrified by Suzuka tractor incident

Brundle was speaking during Sky Sports Any Driven Monday, and reflected on the tractor saga as he also took a trip down memory lane, revealing a similar personal experience when he was racing at Suzuka in 1994.

"I was horrified because I had an incident there in Suzuka in 1994 when I'd been crying on the radio for the race to be red flagged because the conditions were horrific," Brundle said.

"I aquaplaned off in a place where I couldn't see, even my dashboard, I went off and just missed one of the caterpillar diggers but unfortunately hit a marshal and ran back to help him. The bone of his leg was sticking out of his overalls and it was a horrible mess," he explained.

"After that experience, I remember saying in '98 [on commentary], 'we can't have vehicles on track when race cars are on track'. You can aquaplane off, you can have a car issue, whatever.

"It should never happen. Of course we did have the awful incident again in 2014 when we effectively lost Jules Bianchi. You just can't have it," Brundle insisted.

Also embroiled in the tractor story was AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly who was enraged by its presence on track, and aired his discontent, but later was summoned by the stewards and penalized for speeding.

Gasly acknowledged that he was speeding, but Brundle thinks he shouldn't have been there in the first place; in fact no driver should've been on track believing the race should've been Red flagged on the sport.

"It's unquestionably unacceptable," Brundle pointed out. "That should have been an instant red flag in my opinion because of the conditions, because everybody was out on intermediates.

"You can't see where you're going in the cars, you're still going quite quickly at Safety Car speeds and I'm going to assume that Alex Albon's stricken Williams was somewhere in the vicinity as well.

"I've seen other footage, the truck was straight out there, marshals on track, lessons hadn't been learned," he added.

"We know there was debris around, some of it was on the front of Gasly's car. That had to be a red flag. We had a car in a really critical position, high speeds in those conditions, there was no alternative.

"It's not even a question of collecting cars up to buy you time, because the place where the car was absolutely meant people and vehicles had to go on track. It was an instant red flag," the nine-time podium sitter concluded.

Mika Hakkinen also weighed in on the tractor matter in his Unibet column, as he was disecting the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.

"Safety is the most important outcome for everyone in Formula 1," Hakkinen said. "This means for the drivers, teams, marshals and spectators.

"The FIA and F1 have worked hard to improve safety, and we know that Jules Bianchi’s accident in 2014 was a really tragic moment from which everyone tried to learn. That was the only fatal driver accident in the last 28 years and we do not want another," he explained.

"What happened on Sunday is a concern because it was clear that Pierre got a big shock when he saw a truck on the circuit," the Finn went on.

"He has now been penalised for driving too fast under red flag conditions, but it is good to see the FIA launch a review of events because it is easy for a driver to be distracted, not see a signal or not realise what is happening, particularly in conditions of poor visibility.

"We need systems in place that make certain everyone knows what it going on. Everyone is determined to keep this sport as safe as possible, and every incident gives us an opportunity to learn, improve and avoid a repeat," the 1998 and 1999 F1 Champion concluded.