Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel says he would rather Formula 1 be boring if it could bring back Anthoine Hubert, the French driver killed in a Formula 2 crash in Belgium last weekend.
Hubert, 22, died after suffering a 170mph impact from the car of American Juan Manuel Correa at Spa on Saturday.
Four-time world champion Vettel, part of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, says safety must be improved.
“I still think there’s things we can do better and improve,” he said.
Last weekend’s fatal crash is being investigated by the FIA, while the car belonging to Giuliano Alesi, the driver who Hubert avoided before crashing into the barriers, has since been impounded by Belgian police.
Correa has been moved to intensive care in Britain after suffering a spinal injury and broken legs during the F1 support race.
The discussion over safety in motorsport comes just five races after F1 was labelled as “boring” after an uneventful French Grand Prix in June.
“Some people think Formula 1 is too safe and too boring,” Vettel added at a news conference before this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
“But I would rather have boring Formula 1 championships forever and bring Anthoine back.
“To some extent it [danger] is part of motor racing – it’s part of the thrill – but obviously the last few years have been a wake-up with the passing of Jules [Bianchi] and now Anthoine.
“What happened couldn’t be any worse. I think it will be examined in a very detailed way which is correct and what everyone would expect but to draw any conclusions now is probably not right, we need to have a full picture of a lot of elements.
“I’m a fan of holding races in Spa because it’s a great track which has a great history and a lot of the corners are unique, but for sure after what happened we need to have a very close look and take some time to understand exactly what happened.”
Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were the last drivers to die during an F1 race weekend at Imola in 1994. There was not another driver fatality in F1 until 2015 when Jules Bianchi died nine months after suffering severe head injuries in a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc dedicated his win in Spa to his former friend and rival Hubert, and said that while he was aware of the risks involved in racing, “it’s always a shock when something like this happens”.
Leclerc added: “Anytime you go at that speed it will always be dangerous. On the other hand, every time I’m going into the car I am going in with the same mindset, and I think we are all trying to do that even with what happened on Saturday.
