Ecclestone defends safety approach

With the newest circuits featuring huge run-offs that leave spectators far away from the action and give drivers plenty of room to recover from mistakes, there have been criticisms that some of the challenge of F1 has been taken away.

Speaking at the Sid Watkins Safety Lecture at the Autosport International Show, Ecclestone acknowledged the feelings about large run-off areas, but insisted that safety had to take priority over everything else.

"Whether we have gone over the top with some of the run off areas I don't know, but some of them you can run out of fuel before you hit the barrier," he said.

"I don't know what is right and wrong. With (Ayrton) Senna's accident, the television cameras stayed on air a long time. They did not need to have done that and they should not have done it.

"We are not in the business of entertaining the public by having accidents. We need to look after the drivers."

Ecclestone praised the role that FIA president Max Mosley had played in improving safety standards in F1 - and claimed that several big stars would still be alive today if more had been done for safety decades ago.

In particular, he claims that Ronnie Peterson and Jochen Rindt's accidents would not have been fatal if they had happened now.

"Max is very much behind safety, and before him the governing body didn't care. I hope his work goes down to the grassroots participants as well.

"It was the lack of medical support in the old days that was a problem, particularly in Ronnie's case. It should not have happened and if it had happened today they would have been alive."