After the accident, a 396-page report found Bianchi had failed to slow down sufficiently under double yellow flags, as well as recommending a host of changes, including the ‘virutal safety car’, which slows the drivers in treacherous conditions.
The drivers – who paid moving tributes to their friend Bianchi – said they were happy with the changes. But Felipe Massa, who had emergency surgery after being hit by a spring from another car here in 2009, said he was open to the introduction of closed cockpits to protect the drivers’ heads.
Wright, a highly-respected figure, denied that this could have prevented or abated Bianchi’s severe head injuries. “The car would have been stopped by the roof, and although the head would not have hit the crane, it would have hit the roof with the same result,” he said.