No worries about safety at Indian GP: Ecclestone
Two deaths on the racing track in the past week have sent shockwakes through the motorsports fraternity but Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said that he has no safety concerns over Sunday's Indian Grand Prix.
Two deaths on the racing track in the past week have sent shockwakes through the motorsports fraternity but Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said that he has no safety concerns over Sunday's Indian Grand Prix.
British driver Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was killed in a 15-car pile-up in an IndyCar race in Las Vegas a week ago while Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli died in a crash in Sepang on Sunday.
"In Formula One we do everything possible to secure the safety of the drivers and the spectators. I'm very happy the new circuit in India has been built to conform to our safety requirements," Ecclestone was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
"We would never have let that race take place in Las Vegas last week. With 34 cars racing on a 1.5 mile oval track, they were heading for disaster," he said.
On the fatal IndyCar race last weekend that saw the death of Wheldon, Ecclestone said: "It made the race a little like all-in wrestling - with a high risk attachment. While our sympathies lie with Dan's family, the whole episode has not been good for motorsport in general."
Austrian Roland Ratzenberger and three-times world champion Ayrton Senna were the last Formula One drivers to be killed during competition.