Schumacher heeds warning sign

Max Mosley's parting shot as President of the FIA is to cut the performance of the cars but Michael Schumacher doesn't think the current speeds are a problem. However, the Ferrari champion agreed that speed could become a problem in the future and that technology needs to be reduced before things do get out of control.

Michael Schumacher.

Photo by Michael Kim.

Mosley was concerned after big crashes in Montreal and Indianapolis that safety was being pushed too far and Schumacher conceded that the crashes, involving his brother Ralf and Sauber's Felipe Massa, should be taken as a warning.

"In my opinion, the speed of the cars is not a problem at the moment," said Schumacher. "It could, potentially, become a problem and we drivers could resolve it, above all if F1 is left to itself."

"There is the need to set regulations that last, to slow the progress of technology so that we don't reach that danger zone in which accidents are no longer controllable, an eventuality that could have ominous consequences. What happened to Ralf and Felipe was a warning sign."

"As in other areas of life, in F1 something has to happen before regulatory measures are put in place; it is this that we have to try to avoid. Safety has to be prioritised and it should always come before the spectacle."

While supporting the safety aspects, Schumacher does not want the racing to be compromised. "I think that F1 should remain…Formula One," he added. "Drastic measures are often rash ones and not thought out long enough and in the long term they often lead in very different directions to those originally intended."

Mosley is adamant that a drop in performance has to be made. "If you look at lap times seven years ago to now and you see a seven, eight, nine seconds difference on a lap, it is completely mad," he said in France. "Watching the cars you won't notice the difference, you will notice it in an accident."

"There is too much energy to dissipate and we are on the limit of safety precautions. What we will do is reduce the probability that we will have a driver seriously injured or killed or even worse a member of the public or a marshal. We've got to keep the cars under control."