Pierre Gasly was left raging after passing a recovery vehicle on track as the Japanese Grand Prix was being red flagged.

The Frenchman had picked up damage by hitting a sponsor boarding that had flown onto the track when Carlos Sainz crashed on the run to Spoon.

That happened on the opening lap, and required Gasly to make a pit stop for a new front wing while the Safety Car was deployed. As he was trying to catch up with the Safety Car train on full wet tires, Gasly passed a recovery vehicle in poor visibility, just as the red flag was shown.

“God, what the… what the… What is this?” Gasly said over team radio. “What is this tractor on track?! I passed next to it. This unacceptable. Remember what has happened. Can’t believe this.”

It was at Suzuka in 2014 that Jules Bianchi crashed into the back of a recovery vehicle in similar conditions under double waved yellow flags, ultimately losing his life nine months later after never regaining consciousness.

The incident led to Gasly being summoned for driving too quickly after passing the scene of the accident, under red flag conditions.