Jules Bianchi - F1 in Dilemma!

F1 faces its biggest dilemma on driver safety not seen in over 20 years. Questions are now being asked in the wake of the horrific crash that has seen one of F1's rising stars fighting for his life in a hospital in Japan.

While Jules Bianchi's condition is now stable albeit remains critical, many are asking questions about the race and the sport in general.

As a long-time F1 fan, it is natural for the inquisition to start in the wake of such a major incident. However, there should be caution in response to the accident.

Firstly, in response to whether the race should have been run at the time it was scheduled, I think there was nothing wrong with the organizers sticking to the scheduled time agreed a year ago when the F1 calendar was finalized. Indeed, the concern was more over the safety of fans going to and fro Suzuka which were alleviated as the weather turned out to be less dire than initially first thought earlier in the week, when news of the super typhoon broke.

The decision to race at the scheduled time, and then firstly to start under the safety car, red flag it because of the persistent rain, then attempt a restart once the rain had settled was the right one and as it transpired, the race ran with no incident - indeed, the only retirement from the race was from Fernando Alonso as the result of a technical issue with his Ferrari, which is quite stunning given that wet races have always resulted in lots of crashes and retirements.

I guess the one call I would question is not pulling out the safety car as soon as Sutil had crashed and it was clear his car needed to be moved by the crane - conditions at that stage had clearly deteriorated and visibility was poor for the drivers meaning the double waved yellows may have been missed by Jules Bianchi. Having the crane on the track is protocol to remove any car from a dangerous position off the track - maybe F1 could heed the call of Indycar and always have a safety car when a crane or marshall has to go on the track to remove a car.  

F1 should not stop racing in the rain after this incident. I'm not saying it just because wet races are always exciting even if they make it more dangerous for racers. I'm saying it because Jules Bianchi would not want F1 to ditch wet races even after his massive crash. In these PC and sanitised days, sport finds itself trying to make itself foolproof for the masses - F1 has always been a dangerous sport and the drivers and teams and fans know of the risks that they are likely to face.

Right now, while the investigations continue, so should the prayers for Jules as he faces the most difficult race of his life.