Bernie Ecclestone insists Formula 1 is safe and plans to make the cars six seconds faster and more challenging to drive in 2017 will still go ahead, despite the death of Jules Bianchi.
The Frenchman lost his life on Friday after colliding with a recovery vehicle during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix when he drove for the Marussia team.
The 25-year-old is the first F1 driver to die from injuries sustained during a race weekend since Ayrton Senna over two decades ago.
Bianchi’s crash was however a ‘freak accident’ and safety measures have since been put in place to avoid a repeat, something Ecclestone was keen to make clear in an interview with Sky Sports News.
“First he was a very, very, very nice person,” said the 84-year-old. “Secondly, he was very talented, so it’s a great loss, a loss to the sport and obviously a big loss to his parents.
“The vehicle that he hit shouldn’t have been there,” he added. “If that hadn’t have been in the place that it was, he would have been in the same position as the other guy who went off and hit the tyre barrier.
“Formula 1 is safe now, the cars are super safe, the circuit is safe, everything is good, as I say, if that truck hadn’t have been there it wouldn’t have happened.”
Ecclestone therefore sees no reason why plans to make the cars much faster and more of a handful to drive to test a drivers skill should be dropped.
“That’s what they’ve been complaining about recently that perhaps we’ve got too safe and too clinical.
“He [Bianchi] wouldn’t be complaining [about faster cars], no, no, no.”
