FIA to monitor speeds in Malaysia and Brazil

As the F1 world continues to recoil from the death of spectator marshal Graham Beveridge, who was killed by a wheel during Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, the FIA says it will closely examine car speed at the Malaysian and Brazilian Grands Prix and may consider changes to slow the cars down.

Beveridge was the second official to be killed in six months, following the death of a trackside marshal in last September's Italian Grand Prix.

For 2001, lap speeds have risen significantly following the arrival of French tyre manufacturer Michelin to take on Bridgestone. During its monopoly seasons, Bridgestone had been able to use conservative compounds, effectively pegging lap speed increases.

"If after investigating cornering speeds at Sepang and Interlagos," said FIA spokesman Francesco Longanesi, "we find that performance has increased, then new measures will be introduced to slow the cars down."

Seven spectators were also injured by debris from Sunday's accident when the BAR of Jacques Villeneuve hit the back of Ralf Schumacher's Williams, flipped into the air and hit the barriers and safety fences at almost 150 mph.

Although the tragic incident was a stark reminder of the dangers involved in F1, Longanesi maintains that the FIA is constantly seeking to maintain safety levels and had in fact taken steps to increase the height of perimeter fences at all Grand Prix circuits just three weeks ago.

"The death of the marshal in Australia was deeply upsetting," said Longanesi," but it did not take an incident of that magnitude to remind the FIA of its responsibilities.

"Proposals to raise fences by a metre were accepted three weeks ago and will be passed by the commission on March 21. Also, only 10 days ago, [FIA president] Max Mosley proposed the replacement of flags by electronics in the cockpit to allow marshals to be moved further away from the track."

Attempts were made to reduce speeds in F1 this season by changing the aerodynamic regulations in order to reduce the downforce. While cornering speeds may have dropped, less drag means the cars are now faster in a straight line. What is more, the onset of the tyre war has led to increased mechanical traction, which has more than compensated for the reduction in aerodynamic grip.

Lap times in Melbourne from last weekend were very much faster than in 2000 and Michael Schumacher's pole time was more than 3.5s faster than Hakkinen's last year.

Before the beginning of the season, Mosley threatened that measures would be taken to reduce speed should lap times be too fast. Extra grooves could be added to the tyres to reduce grip or the number of tyres available to each driver may be decreased, thereby forcing teams to use harder compounds.

If the sizeable increase in lap speed in Australia is indicative of the rate of progress still to come, then observations in Malaysia and Brazil could lead to FIA intervention sooner, rather than later.