An amateur video has been making the rounds and it clearly shows Bianchi’s impact with the tractor. It gives an insight into what may have led to the tragic accident.

Aquaplaning

We need to look at this situation the same way you’d look at a plane crash. There is more than one factor contributing to the end result. The first and most obvious factor is the weather. Typhoon Phanfone was slamming the area with torrential rains and it made the race track incredibly slick.

Sutil crashed in the same spot, so we can assume that Bianchi lost the Marussia in the same fashion. It’s no surprise seeing cars aquaplaning in such treacherous conditions, but Sutil spun backwards. Bianchi’s car went nose first into the crash scene.

Why he went straight

That’s because he overcorrected, similar to the way Kobayashi did in practice. He started to lose the rear end as multiple photos have shown, and tried to correct. The car was sent across the gravel trap and hit the tractor with the front left side of the car. The entire left portion and rear end of the machine were instantly decimated. The tractor was lifted off the ground and moved as well, cutting its right rear tire. The Sauber also flew off the hook upon Bianchi’s impact. Many also say that diminishing light played a role in the accident.

Switching from double yellows to green flag – A rule that should be revised?

In the video, you can clearly see a man up in the marshal’s post waving a green flag. The flag was supposed to be green though, telling drivers that they can accelerate after they pass the accident scene. Still, that green flag (which was on top of the crash site) could have potentially been misinterpreted or due to low visibility, Bianchi accelerated too soon and aquaplaned like Sutil.

You can see in a longer video that the marshal was originally waving double yellow flags and switched to green once the tractor backed behind his post, but it was still on the race track and in a dangerous position. He did his job, but with the tractor and people still in a dangerous position, should that rule be revised by the FIA?

According to telemetry, he was going 213 km/h (132mph) when he went off. Other drivers were racing at a similar speed in the same zone between turns seven and eight.

The perfect storm

Perhaps all of these factors and others we aren’t yet aware of led to the tragic end result. A chain reaction of events that created the perfect storm, and now leaves Jules Bianchi in a hospital and fighting for his life.

We will not post the video here because of Bianchi’s current condition, but if you would like to see it and be warned, it may be upsetting to some readers, click this link. There is a longer video that shows the switch from double yellows to a green flag, which you can see here.