Some signage blows onto the front of the car of AlphaTauri's French driver Pierre Gasly during a rainstorm at the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Mie prefecture on Oct 9, 2022. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)

SUZUKA, Japan - Frenchman Pierre Gasly raged after driving at speed past a recovery vehicle sent out in heavy rain while the safety car was deployed at Sunday's Formula One Japanese Grand Prix.

The race was stopped shortly afterwards.

Pictures showed the light panels by the side of the track change to red from yellow just before Frenchman Pierre Gasly drove past the recovery vehicle

"I could have ... killed myself," the AlphaTauri driver said over the team radio. "This is unacceptable! What has happened? Can’t believe this."

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The 26-year-old, who had hit a sponsorship hoarding dislodged by an opening lap crash for Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, had pitted for a new front wing and was trying to catch up with the rest of the field.

Sainz's crash was one of a number of first-lap incidents, as drivers struggled with poor visibility and scrabbled for grip on the rain-soaked asphalt.

AlphaTauri's French driver Pierre Gasly drives in the pit lane during the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Mie prefecture on Oct 9, 2022. (TORU HANAI / POOL / AFP)

Stewards said they would investigate the incident, with Gasly under investigation for speeding under red flag conditions

Pictures showed the light panels by the side of the track change to red from yellow just before Gasly drove past the recovery vehicle.

The sport's governing body, FIA, said the race had been neutralized by the safety car.

Stewards said they would investigate the incident, with Gasly under investigation for speeding under red flag conditions.

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AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly of France waves at spectators before the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan on Oct 9, 2022. (TORU HANAI / AP)

Other teams and drivers expressed their concern at an incident that stirred memories of Frenchman Jules Bianchi's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014.

Bianchi suffered severe head injuries after colliding with a recovery vehicle in the wet, and died in hospital in July the following year.

Other teams and drivers expressed their concern at an incident that stirred memories of Frenchman Jules Bianchi's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014

"How’s this happened!? We lost a life in this situation years ago. We risk our lives, especially in conditions like this. We wanna race. But this … unacceptable," said McLaren's Lando Norris on Twitter.

"I think we need to discuss a tractor on track ... we can keep it short: this must NOT happen, guys," said Austrian former racer Alex Wurz, chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.

Sainz told Sky Sports television: "I still don’t know why we keep risking, in these conditions, having a tractor on track. You were going to red-flag it anyway, so why risk it?"

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen, hoping to wrap up a second successive title, led from pole position at the red flag, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second.

There was no indication of when the race might resume, with the clock ticking down.