FIA Refusing to Back Down on HANS

Formula One's governing body, the FIA, said today they will continue to force drivers to wear the problematic HANS safety device even though Briton Justin Wilson was hospitalised after using it in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Wilson suffered temporary paralysis of his right arm after the device, which was made compulsory this season, loosened during the race. He was in severe pain when he retired his Minardi after 41 gruelling laps of the Sepang circuit and spent the night recovering in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who crashed early in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after the device caused him pain, raced without it in Malaysia after claiming special medical dispensation. But the FIA said that case was a one-off and insisted they will now toughen their stance on the matter.

A spokesman for the FIA said they will not go back on their decision to introduce the device and explained: "The evidence for a HANS device significantly improving driver safety is overwhelming.

"Such devices have been used in racing for over 10 years, approximately 3000 devices are currently in use and in the last two years accidents of all types in American racing have validated its performance.

"Formula One teams have known since April 2001 that the device was to be introduced and this should have allowed teams more than enough time for adequate testing of the system."

The device, which is held down by straps over the driver's shoulders and connects to the back of the helmet to protect him in a head on collision, has been used in racing series in the United States for some years.

But it is yet to be perfected for the Formula One cockpit and many drivers dislike it. Wilson suffered when the straps on the device came loose and allowed it to slip around the cockpit.