Analysis: F1 in Sigh of Relief

Formula One held its breath last weekend before issuing a heartfelt sigh of relief. Luciano Burti's 240 km/h plunge into the tyre barriers at Spa on Sunday, the Brazilian's fourth big impact in what amounts to his debut season, was one of the heavier crashes of recent years.

But once news of the Prost driver's condition filtered through, the sombre mood lifted. There may be important lessons to be learned for the future, perhaps concerning gravel traps and tyre walls, but a significant safety test was passed in Belgium.

"It is almost a miracle that he is now out of danger," commented team boss and four times champion Alain Prost on Sunday. "This confirms the constant safety improvements of both the F1 monocoques and of the circuit equipment."

"The most important event of the weekend was Luciano's survival," said team boss Frank Williams.

There is no doubt that Burti, who escaped with severe bruising but no broken bones, could count himself lucky after a crash that would probably have proved fatal only a few years previously. Luck might have played a part but safety improvements contributed rather more.

The current crop of Formula One cars, with padding to offer head and neck protection, have never been tougher or better equipped to withstand an impact and shield the driver from serious injury.

No Complacency

But the battle is far from won as lap times tumble and cars corner faster than ever.

"There is no complacency among people who are responsible for safety," International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley told Autosport magazine. "We do not know yet what exactly happened...but the safety modifications made in recent years seem to have worked. We will certainly learn from this."

It would be an easy matter to portray Burti as an inexperienced or even accident-prone driver but that would be to forget the lessons of 1994 when Formula One was deprived of its greatest talent. The deaths of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola - F1's last driver fatalities - reminded the world that even the greatest drivers can have accidents and frequently do.

Michael Schumacher, a four times champion and at the forefront of any safety campaign, is no exception. He has been involved in some massive crashes during his 11-year Formula One career and, despite Ferrari's reliability and dominance this season, three big ones have come since the beginning of July.

Flying Debris

The German crashed at high-speed in testing at Monza, the next circuit on the calendar after Spa and a track where a local marshal was killed by flying debris last year, and then at Mugello last month. His Ferrari was also shunted dramatically by Burti on the starting grid at Hockenheim and he clipped the back of Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar at Spa in a wet practice session.

In all cases, he emerged unscathed - unlike the 1999 accident at Silverstone, when he speared the tyre wall and broke his leg to end his title hopes. That crash led to new regulations being introduced to reinforce the chassis - a development that undoubtedly helped save Burti's life on Sunday.

"There was a satisfactory outcome from the accident but how much was due to work that has been done and how much was due to good fortune?," said Mosley of Burti's crash. "It does not make us say we have done a good job.

"It makes us work harder and when you work harder you tend to get luckier. Was it Gary Player who said 'the more I practise, the luckier I get'?"