SUZUKA, Japan — Jules Bianchi's accident in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix has prompted questions over whether the Formula One race should have been started earlier to beat deteriorating weather conditions. The Frenchman suffered severe head injury and was fighting for his life after his Marussia slid off the slippery track, drenched by rain brought in by the approaching typhoon Phanfone, and hit a recovery vehicle. Adrian Sutil had crashed his Sauber at the same point a lap earlier. Bianchi underwent surgery after the crash. “The CT scan shows that he has suffered a severe head injury and is currently undergoing surgery,” the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in an update on his condition. There had been talk earlier in the week of bringing the race forward to beat the worst of the typhoon but the decision was to start as scheduled at 1500 GMT. “We weren't asked about our opinion so there is nothing I can say,” Sutil, who witnessed Bianchi's accident, said when asked about it. “It was clear it got more wet and it would have been quite easy to make the race earlier but it is not in my hands.” Retired triple world champion and Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda agreed: “They could have started earlier, there's no question about it,” said the Austrian. “It was foreseeable. They could have started the race at one but I don't take these decisions.” The race started behind the safety car as rain drenched the 5.8km circuit but, with conditions clearly too treacherous, it was red-flagged and the field led back into the pits at the end of the second lap. Conditions gradually improved enough for the drivers to race on intermediate tires, though the showers returned near the end with the light also fading. “For me personally it wasn't (that bad),” Mercedes race winner Lewis Hamilton said when asked how slippery conditions were near the end. Brazilian Felipe Massa, however, said he was “screaming for the race to stop” when the rain returned towards the end. Lauda said, however, that the FIA had deployed the safety cars at the right time to keep the race under control. The Austrian saw Bianchi's accident as a combination of unfortunate events as well as a reminder that motor racing remains a dangerous sport. “We get used to it if nothing happens and then suddenly we are all surprised,” Lauda said. — Reuters
