New safety regs will improve road cars, says FIA

As expected, the FIA has endorsed a number of safety measures in a package of regulation changes that also sees traction control re-introduced into F1 with effect from April 16.

In a fax vote yesterday (Thursday), the FIA's rule-making body, the World Motorsport Council, approved a number of safety features recommended by the teams themselves, but the first of these will not be introduced until January 2002.

The measures include automatic warning systems that will replace the current system of yellow flags with a system of speed limits and, ultimately, replace the FIA Safety Car with a sophisticated anti-collision system.

"By demonstrating intelligent speed limitation in F1 to a worldwide audience, the FIA hopes greatly to accelerate the introduction of the necessary technology on the roads, " said an FIA statement. "This will be another example of technology transfer from F1 making a major contribution to road safety."

The teams, under the umbrella of the F1 Technical Working Group, were asked to formulate the package in return for being allowed to once again run driver aids outlawed at the end of 1993.

The changes expressly forbid any automatically-triggered form of launch control, active suspension or torque-steer differentials, but give a one-year period of grace on power-assisted steering systems.



A driver start abort system (to come into force January 1, 2002)

A system capable of warning teams and drivers that a speed limit will be enforced on specific parts of the track (to come into force January 1, 2002)

A collision warning system (to come into force January 1, 2003)

A system capable of warning teams and drivers that a specific speed profile will be enforced on the whole track, replacing the Safety Car (to come into force January 1, 2003)

The size of the rear view mirrors will increase from 120x50mm to 15x50mm (to come into force January 1, 2002)



Engines: A number of engine control parameters will no longer be restricted, these include throttle, ignition and fuel settings, thus permitting the use of a traction control system; pit lane speed-limiter; engine rev-limiter

Starts: Any system capable of detecting a race start signal will not be permitted.

Clutch: Clutch control during gear changes will no longer be restricted.

Gearbox: Fully-automatic gear changes will be permitted.

Suspension: Powered devices of any kind will no longer be permitted in suspension systems. This will prohibit, for example, the use of shock absorbers containing Fluid whose characteristics change when electrical current is applied.

Brakes: Powered devices will no longer be permitted in braking systems (This will prevent the use of computer-controlled brakes).

Steering: With the exception of power assistance for 2001 only, powered devices will no longer be permitted in steering systems (This will prevent the use of computer-controlled steering).

Differentials: With the exception of any system which is capable of transferring or diverting torque from a slower to a faster rotating wheel, differential control will now be free (This will prevent the use of so-called torque-steer differentials).

Software validation: In order to ensure that all necessary safety measures continue to be taken, the FIA will maintain its software verification routines, the emphasis however shifting from system control to system integrity.