The FIA must step in to prevent a Formula 1 driver from being killed in a similar incident to the one involving Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll at the United States Grand Prix, according to Dario Franchitti.
A very scary moment during the race in Austin on Sunday saw Alonso's front right wheel clip the back left of Stroll's Aston Martin while attempting an overtake. The Alpine rode up on the other car at high speed and was sent into a wheelie.
Fortunately, the Spaniard was able to avoid flipping his car, and also prevent it from crashing into a barrier. He even managed to finish the race in seventh place, though he was later given a hefty penalty which took him out of the points places after the stewards deemed his car to have been in a dangerous state following a Haas protest.
The stewards also took action against Stroll, who they deemed to be at fault for the collision. He will serve a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Mexico, but Franchitti, a four-time IndyCar champion, feels the governing body needs to do more to prevent such crashes in the future.
"These late changes of direction on the straight are going to kill someone," the Scot wrote on social media. "FIA, time to sort this behaviour out once and for all. It has bled down to the junior formula too."
Damon Hill, 1996 F1 champion, agreed that Stroll's late move to the left to prevent his future team-mate from passing was dangerous. "Another close call there for the boys. Bit of a naughty late jink I think from Stroll there," he wrote.
After the race, Alonso admitted he felt lucky to have escaped serious injury after riding up on the back two wheels of his Alpine. I'm happy to be here talking with you because I could surely be in the medical centre. So I'm happy for that," he told DAZN Espana.
"We were lucky with the first safety car... And then, on the restart, I tried to take Stroll's slipstream. I moved to the side to leave the slipstream, and he also moved. It was a bit of bad luck that we didn't understand each other. When I was in the air, I was a bit scared because it was very dangerous. When I landed on the asphalt, I thought it was race over. That's what I thought when I entered the pits.
"In the end, to finish seventh is incredible. The last laps, I was pushing like it was qualifying. It was my best race of the season, but the fear is still in my stomach. After the crash, I couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the race. I just wanted to finish the race."
