Nyck de Vries believes the penalty that cost him his first Super Formula points at Fuji is the results of a “country-specific” interpretation of the foundations governing contact.
In his third and final appearance of the season for Team Impul, former Formula 1 driver de Vries finished eighth on target, nine places behind his starting position.
However, a five-second time penalty awarded for contact with Kenta Yamashita exiting Turn 1 while fighting for ninth place on 32 of 41 laps meant de Vries dropped to eleventh in the ultimate results.
This in comparison with his lead to Saturday's opening race, when he lost two tenths of a second to catching Kondo Racing's Yamashita and scored the ultimate point in tenth position.
Although pleased together with his performance, de Vries identified the difference between his version of the events of his battle with Yamashita and that of the stewards, and believes that this move can be considered legal in terms outside Japan.
“I might call [penalty] a really country-specific decision, made by individuals who have a look at the match from 100 meters away from the corner, which is different from my viewpoint,” de Vries said.
“If you watch the footage, it's clear that at the highest I'm almost half a automobile length ahead of us [Yamashita]. I'm driving on a standard line, so I speed up on the optimal moment, so I actually have no probability of retreating because I actually have to make use of your complete track.
Nyck de Vries, ITOCHU ENEX IMPULSE TEAM
Photo: Masahide Kamio
“He accelerates to attempt to regain lost ground, but he tries to achieve a bonus that he doesn't have. I actually have maximum lock and he comes from the skin and hits me.
I just feel sorry for the team because that they had a tricky season and so they deserved it.
De Vries added that he hopes that in the longer term Super Formula will take a more international approach to the foundations governing wheel-to-wheel combat.
“People have asked me what I think about Super Formula and how it can become even more relevant to Formula 2 and Formula 1, and I praise the series because the cars are great and the racing is great,” he said.
“But these kinds of rules, which have nothing to do with international racing, don't make sense to me.”
De Vries' return to the points was made all of the more remarkable by the incident on lap two involving Iori Kimura and Atsushi Miyake at Turn 10.
This forced the Dutch driver to pit to have his front wing replaced, although because of the presence of the protection automobile he was in a position to restart behind the grid.
Nyck de Vries, ITOCHU ENEX IMPULSE TEAM
Photo: Masahide Kamio
Another safety automobile break was called when Yuji Kunimoto sent Kazuya Oshima right into a spin at turn one, then allowed de Vries to pit under caution and take further positions.
“Our pace was very good in the first run,” said de Vries. “[After the contact] We were overtaking a automobile almost every lap, so we were still gaining the advantage, after which we got the second safety automobile.
“I used to be actually ahead of him on the primary lap [Ayumu] Iwasa. I lost a lot of the ground when changing the front wing, I made up for it before the second pit stop because I left behind Kamui [Kobayashi] and Iwasa was right in front of him.
Toyota junior Hibiki Taira will take over the No. 19 Impul automobile, driven earlier this yr by Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire and Lexus IMSA regular Ben Barnicoat, on the season finale at Suzuka next month.
Taira scored his only points thus far this season during Super Formula's previous visit to Fuji in July, when he finished ninth.
