Sebastian Vettel: F1 drivers 'lucky' after nothing major happened following tractor incident at 2022 Japanese GP

Sebastian Vettel believes that drivers were lucky to escape any major accidents following the two unlikely events that took place during the Japanese Grand Prix.

When the lights went off at Suzuka, the entire track was drenching wet. Because of this, Carlos Sainz got aquaplaned and crashed in the very first lap of the race, triggering a safety car. Soon after, a tractor appeared on the track to remove it while the drivers were still there.

Pierre Gasley sped to catch up with the queue as he passed it, and due to low visibility, was rather shocked to see the massive vehicle. This could have been life-threatening if there had been even a small error from him.

It is extremely dangerous for a recovery vehicle to be on track while the drivers are still present. This was a big mistake from the stewards and so, Sebastian Vettel, who has over a decade of experience in F1, believes that drivers were lucky not to make any mistakes when the recovery vehicle was on the track.

"Visibility is close to none when you're inside the car following in the spray - we're lucky that nothing happened - but we need to understand and make sure that it just must not happen."

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Sebastian Vettel feels drivers are 'pressured' into using intermediates instead of full wet tires

Pirelli provides a total of two non-slick compounds to race in wet conditions - intermediates and wets. Inters are usually used in less wet conditions, but in drenching conditions like the ones witnessed in Japan, wets are recommended.

The only reason drivers did not use them is because they are too hard and show a massive loss of laptime. Vettel believes that teams have to force themselves into avoiding wets.

"First, the entire grid leaves on the wrong tyre, for which we are all to blame but then no one to blame, because we are all in the same pressure situation."

Vettel added:

"The extreme tyre was the tyre for the conditions, but it is so slow that you are pressured to go to the next tyre (intermediate), so that needs to be improved. It would have solved the problem."

Not only Sebastian Vettel, but other analysts, too, believe that some changes should be made to the full wet tires so that drivers do not think twice before putting them on their car. It can potentially increase safety during wet races.

Pierre Gasly was lucky to not lose control over his car when the tractor was brought on track to remove Carlos Sainz's Ferrari. However, fans and F1 officials took their word against the decision to have such a massive vehicle on the track in such difficult conditions.

Jules Bianchi, in 2014, lost his life on the same track after a tractor was present on the track in wet conditions. He lost control of his car and crashed head-on into the tractor.