Brawn: Safety can still be improved

That is the view of Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn, who claims that lessons should be taken on board about car design and track configuration on the back of a number of crashes this weekend at the exit of the Monaco tunnel.

Speaking about the incidents, which included Perez being taken to hospital after smashing sideways into the chicane barriers in a qualifying accident, Brawn believed action would be taken in the future.

"It is a tricky part of the track and it has been for years," explained Brawn, whose driver Nico Rosberg had a similar incident to Perez in Saturday morning practice but narrowly missed the barrier the Sauber ended up in. "With the events we had a few years ago, the barrier was put back and fortunately the cars have improved.

"But we must never be complacent and think that the cars can't improve. We can always improve things, but the work that has been done between the teams and the FIA since [Karl] Wendlinger's accident and then Jenson Button's as well, has been commendable.

"What will happen for sure after this [Perez] incident is that the FIA and the teams will look again at what improvements the teams can make.

"But for an accident of that severity, and Sergio to have bruising and some sprains, is something that F1 should be proud of. But we will not be complacent and rest on our laurels, and anything we can do to improve safety we will do."

Felipe Massa expressed his frustration at the situation, and reckoned that calls from drivers to change the layout of the chicane area in Monaco have fallen on deaf ears in recent years.

"It is very dangerous," said the Brazilian. "Some places we have been fighting for a long time already because of that wall, but it looks like Monaco is okay. Not like the other tracks, but [only at] Monaco can we drive like that, and they never took away that wall.

"Here we saw two big accidents. Nico was lucky because it could have hurt the way he hit the wall. Sergio was not so lucky although he lost the car in a similar way because he crashed in the side. Anyway, it is pretty clear that it is dangerous."

Rubens Barrichello said that Monaco would likely always remain a dangerous place, because space limitations meant that a major track overhaul was impossible.

"Monte Carlo is a place where, with all due respect, everything has improved so much," he said. "Life improves, car safety improves, tracks improve and so on, and Monte Carlo is a bit of an old track.

"It's good for the show, everyone loves it and everything. But in terms of safety it's not the best place. So from time to time it's the very same place that we keep on having accidents, and if we don't do anything, in so many years we will have another one."

With four drivers having crashed out over the course of the Monaco weekend after losing control on the bump at the end of the tunnel, there is a chance of further incidents in the race itself.

Brawn believed that it would be up to the drivers to be especially careful at that area of the circuit - especially when tyres are not up to normal pressures.

"I think the beginning of the race, or any time after the safety car, is always a moment when drivers will have to be cautious until the tyre pressures come up," he said.

"We all run the cars as competitively low as we can, and when you lose tyre pressures the car can bottom more. The drivers are very aware of that, they are very experienced about that and know you have to be cautious in those circumstances until they come back to normal."