Head calls for better marshal protection

Graham Beveridge, a spectator control marshal, was killed by a detached wheel from the BAR-Honda of Jacques Villeneuve after the Canadian was involved in a collision with the Williams-BMW of Ralf Schumacher. The fatality, which is the second in six months - a marshal was killed in a similar incident at Monza last year - has led to calls for further work to improve safety in F1.

"One's got to ask whether the marshal was really provided with proper protection in the place where he was standing," said Head. "When you have open wheel racing cars, it doesn't matter what you do in tying bits to the car. These cars are immensely fast, and if they hit each other, then there are going to be bits flying around. In which case you've got to look at that realistically, and say how are you going to deal with it?"

Although Beveridge was not a flag official and was stood behind the debris fencing, Head even suggested that modern warning systems could mean removing marshals from the trackside altogether.

"It may well be that the marshals will have to have more robust protection around them, he said. "There's no reason to need a man with a flag out there. You can have a button pushed and an arm can come out waving a flag."

A second tether was added to each wheel for the 2001 season in order to prevent them from flying uncontrollably during accidents. With the extra cable tie the wheels and hubs should stay attached to the chassis when submitted to forces of up to 5000kg, but Head says that accidents will happen regardless.

"I think the first thing is for cars not to hit each other on the track," he said. "We've got two cable ties for the wheels now. I don't know what hit the unfortunate marshal, but if one car collides into another like that, bits come off them. The tethers have about a five-ton breaking strain, and there are two of them. But then it doesn't take much of an impact to create a load of five tons. Obviously these things have to be looked at."

For full Patrick Head Q&A, (Click Here).