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Safety paramount in street circuit
With street circuit races in Valencia and Singapore added to the 2008 calendar, Formula One drivers at the Spanish Grand Prix are talking about safety.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: May 16, 2007 03:50 PM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Barcelona, Spain:
World champion Fernando Alonso refused to rush to judgment.
"When it comes to the project of urban circuits, we'll get together and decide what we need to look at and what needs to be changed for the better and if everything is OK, we'll move forward," Alonso said. "Our objective is always to have the safest setup, but before we say anything about it we have to see how it will be adapted to the new circuits."
Last month Australian driver Mark Webber tested a 5.2-kilometer street circuit in Singapore in a Porsche 911 GT3.
"I think you could light the place up, but it is a question of the rain and the other bits and bobs that can take over embarrassingly if you don't do your homework," the Red Bull driver said.
BMW-Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld said lighting was the biggest concern.
"The lighting system has to work perfectly ... because it is not like a soccer game where if the lights turn off nothing happens, but if you are doing 300 kph then it is a bit more of a problem," Heidfeld said.
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone wasn't worried.
"There's another street track that we've been racing at for years in Monte Carlo and we've never had trouble there so I don't think there will be any trouble at one of these races," Ecclestone said.
With street circuit races in Valencia and Singapore added to the 2008 calendar, Formula One drivers at the Spanish Grand Prix are talking about safety.World champion Fernando Alonso refused to rush to judgment.
"When it comes to the project of urban circuits, we'll get together and decide what we need to look at and what needs to be changed for the better and if everything is OK, we'll move forward," Alonso said. "Our objective is always to have the safest setup, but before we say anything about it we have to see how it will be adapted to the new circuits."
Last month Australian driver Mark Webber tested a 5.2-kilometer street circuit in Singapore in a Porsche 911 GT3.
"I think you could light the place up, but it is a question of the rain and the other bits and bobs that can take over embarrassingly if you don't do your homework," the Red Bull driver said.
BMW-Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld said lighting was the biggest concern.
"The lighting system has to work perfectly ... because it is not like a soccer game where if the lights turn off nothing happens, but if you are doing 300 kph then it is a bit more of a problem," Heidfeld said.
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone wasn't worried.
"There's another street track that we've been racing at for years in Monte Carlo and we've never had trouble there so I don't think there will be any trouble at one of these races," Ecclestone said.
Topics mentioned in this article
Formula 1
Michael Schumacher
Giancarlo Fisichella
Jenson Button
Narain Karthikeyan
Lewis Hamilton
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