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F1 to reduce risk of breakaway wheels
Source: Agencies |
July 30, 2010, Friday
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FORMULA One will double the number of tethers on cars next season to reduce the danger from wheels bouncing away after crashes, McLaren engineering head Paddy Lowe said on Wednesday.
Lowe told reporters in a conference call ahead of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix that the sport's technical working group had agreed to introduce a second tether connecting each wheel to the chassis.
"Wheel tethers are a great concern to us," he said.
"We had the tragic incident last year with Henry Surtees, and we also see wheels coming off F1 cars rather more often than we'd like and than the rules intended when tethers were introduced. They are working but they're not reliable enough."
Briton Surtees, son of former world champion John, died last July after being struck on the head by a bouncing tire while competing in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch.
There have been several incidents involving tires breaking free in F1 this season.
"What we found is that when they (the tethers) don't work they have been cut for some reason due to the nature of the accident," said Lowe.
Two tethers
"Our thinking is that if you put two tethers on each corner that are run independently ... then we're going to drastically improve the probability that one or both tethers survive in an accident."
At present each tether must be able to withstand a minimum load of six tons.
Last year's Hungarian Grand Prix was overshadowed by Brazilian Felipe Massa's serious injury in qualifying, with the Ferrari driver hit on the head by a heavy spring that had fallen off compatriot Rubens Barrichello's Brawn and bounced down the track.
Also, Monaco has signed a 10-year contract extension for its grand prix only weeks after Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone suggested the sport could live without the showcase race.
"The Europeans are going to have to pay more money or we will have to go somewhere else," the Independent newspaper had quoted the Briton as saying before this month's British Grand Prix. "We can do without Monaco. They don't pay enough," he added.
Ecclestone's Formula One Administration said in a statement on Wednesday that the 79-year-old had met Michel Boeri of the Automovile Club de Monaco in London and agreed a 10-year extension.
Lowe told reporters in a conference call ahead of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix that the sport's technical working group had agreed to introduce a second tether connecting each wheel to the chassis.
"Wheel tethers are a great concern to us," he said.
"We had the tragic incident last year with Henry Surtees, and we also see wheels coming off F1 cars rather more often than we'd like and than the rules intended when tethers were introduced. They are working but they're not reliable enough."
Briton Surtees, son of former world champion John, died last July after being struck on the head by a bouncing tire while competing in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch.
There have been several incidents involving tires breaking free in F1 this season.
"What we found is that when they (the tethers) don't work they have been cut for some reason due to the nature of the accident," said Lowe.
Two tethers
"Our thinking is that if you put two tethers on each corner that are run independently ... then we're going to drastically improve the probability that one or both tethers survive in an accident."
At present each tether must be able to withstand a minimum load of six tons.
Last year's Hungarian Grand Prix was overshadowed by Brazilian Felipe Massa's serious injury in qualifying, with the Ferrari driver hit on the head by a heavy spring that had fallen off compatriot Rubens Barrichello's Brawn and bounced down the track.
Also, Monaco has signed a 10-year contract extension for its grand prix only weeks after Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone suggested the sport could live without the showcase race.
"The Europeans are going to have to pay more money or we will have to go somewhere else," the Independent newspaper had quoted the Briton as saying before this month's British Grand Prix. "We can do without Monaco. They don't pay enough," he added.
Ecclestone's Formula One Administration said in a statement on Wednesday that the 79-year-old had met Michel Boeri of the Automovile Club de Monaco in London and agreed a 10-year extension.
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