Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has said he would rather Formula One be boring if it could bring back French driver Anthoine Hubert, who was killed in a Formula 2 crash in Belgium on Saturday.
Hubert, 22, lost control of his car on the second lap of the Formula Two feature race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. After an initial impact with the barriers, Hubert's car came back onto the race track and was hit at upwards of 200 km/h by American driver Juan Manuel Correa. Hubert's car was split in two pieces by the crash.
Ferrari driver Vettel said in a news conference that the sport's focus on entertainment must not be prioritised over driver safety.
"Some people think Formula One is too safe and too boring," Vettel said. "But I would rather have boring Formula One championships forever and bring Anthoine back.
"To some extent it [danger] is part of motor racing -- it's part of the thrill -- but obviously the last few years have been a wake-up with the passing of Jules [Bianchi] and now Anthoine.
"What happened couldn't be any worse. I think it will be examined in a very detailed way, which is correct and what everyone would expect, but to draw any conclusions now is probably not right, we need to have a full picture of a lot of elements.
"I'm a fan of holding races in Spa because it's a great track, which has a great history and a lot of the corners are unique, but for sure after what happened we need to have a very close look and take some time to understand exactly what happened."
Hubert's death was the second at a Formula One race weekend since Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died after crashes at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
Motor racing's governing body, the FIA, has launched an investigation into the accident.
Five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday he believes the inherent danger and skill required to win Formula One is sometimes underestimated, saying that Hubert was a hero "for taking the risk he did to chase his dreams."