
Bottas slates Japanese GP 'risks'
Bottas slates Japanese GP 'risks'

Valtteri Bottas has slated the various 'risks' taken at last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
A number of questions were raised during and after Sunday's race at Suzuka which took place in appalling conditions.
The circumstances prior to the commencement of the start procedure were better than in Singapore the previous weekend but worsened as the drivers sat on the grid.
With the pressure of fading daylight to contend with - a non-factor in Singapore - the race began at its scheduled time. On the grid, all 20 drivers gambled on intermediate tyres.
But a series of lap-one incidents, notably Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz's crash, in tandem with the worsening conditions caused a lengthy red-flag delay of over two hours.
“I was surprised we started because the conditions, the visibility was so, so bad that we should have not started," said Bottas.
"And even the second restart, I’m pretty sure that from P6, P7 backwards, it was quite risky.”
Bottas disbelief with crane scene
Sainz's crash was a major contributing factor to the early red flag but before the race had been neutralised, a crane and marshals took to the track to begin their recovery work.
This led to the horrific sight of Pierre Gasly, racing to catch up to the back of the safety car crane following a pit stop, coming within metres of the incident scene, sparking memories of Jules Bianchi's ultimately fatal crash in 2014.
"I thought we shouldn’t have cranes or anything on track when it is not red-flagged and it was already there before it went red," added Bottas. "I was surprised.”
Behind a safety car in wet conditions, drivers often dart out from the train to improve visibility.
In Sunday's conditions, Bottas highlighted the potential danger of a driver taking this course of action while being unaware of a vehicle parked on the track.
"I believe that it was only single yellows and there was a crane," he said. "Of course, you are taking care with a yellow flag but if you start aquaplaning or something, you never know."
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F1 Standings

Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
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Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
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Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
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Grand Prix of Australia 2023
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Grand Prix of China 2023
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Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
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Miami Grand Prix 2023
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Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
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Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
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AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
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Grand Prix du Canada 2023
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Grand Prix of Austria 2023
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Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
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Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
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Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
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Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
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Grand Prix of Italy 2023
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Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
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Grand Prix of Japan 2023
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Qatar Grand Prix 2023
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Grand Prix of the United States 2023
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Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
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Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
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Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
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Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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