F1 legend thinks drivers should be penalised for speeding on run-off

Former Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi has called for penalties to be given to drivers running too fast on asphalt run-off areas to prevent incidents occurring with cars on/off the track.

At Sochi in the F2 sprint race Jack Aitken and Nikita Mazepin collided on the run-off area at turn 2 which in turn led Nobuharu Matsushita to make contact with the barriers with Mazepin receiving a 15-place grid penalty for the next race.
 
It was only a few weeks ago that Anthoine Hubert lost his life at Spa after a collision with Juan Manuel Correa off-track at the top of the Raidillon corner after trying to avoid Alesi’s son Guilano.
 
"Destiny sometimes sends a warning," Alesi told Motorsport.com.

"Unfortunately it cost the life of Anthoine.

"This is the only thing I can say. I hate the people who blame when the things are done, so I don't want to blame anybody. But we had a warning, and now we have to react about that.

"At the moment the evolution of safety from the FIA and the circuits was to have asphalt, where normally we had gravel traps.

"When you go out, you should decrease the speed by half. If the speed is very high, let's say 250km/h, you should go out of the run-off area at 120-130.

"When you are out of the track, maybe you lose two or three positions, but never ever will you have a situation like we had in Sochi.”

Penalties are the only way Alesi feels the sport can overcome the issue of drivers going fast off track.

“So you need to be extremely hard. Which means if it's in practice, it should be like you are not stopping at the scale,” he added.

“You don't decrease speed, you start from the pits. After one time, two times, three times, then you start to understand.

"It's everywhere, in each category. Especially for safety, you need to have a strict regulation.”