Strong words from the Mercedes team principal
Yesterday, the FIA anticipated the regulatory changes that will be ratified and made official at the World Council. The new features will be introduced starting from the Miami GP – with the exception of those related to the start because they require testing – and in race dynamics, interventions have been made with the aim of trying to reduce the possibility of other incidents occurring, such as the one that saw Oliver Bearman go off track in Japan to avoid Franco Colapinto’s Alpine.
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The Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff wanted to emphasize that what happened to Bearman is nevertheless inevitable in a motorsport competition that is inherently dangerous: “We must consider Bearman’s incident for what it was, it was a misjudgment of the situation, it’s like pressing the boost button and not braking into a corner where you should,” Wolff said, as reported by planetf1.com.
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“While we must ensure driver safety, and this must be the utmost priority and importance, in the world there are so many fantastic races that we drivers love and that exist even if they are dangerous – Wolff added – I love Le Mans, I spend the night watching the timing screen and the Hypercars tackle the Porsche curves at 30 or 40 kilometers per hour faster than GT3 cars. The speed differences are enormous. We have witnessed critical situations and serious accidents between these two different classes. I remember staying up all night when Mike Rockenfeller crashed with the GT car during the night, due to a misjudgment. I remember an incident a year or two ago at the Porsche curves due to a misjudgment by one of the drivers. Yet Le Mans exists despite all this and of course we continue to love it. Let’s look at the Nordschleife. I don’t know who among you has seen it, and obviously we had a tragic event, but one of the fascinating aspects of the Nordschleife is that an official GT3 car races against a private Volkswagen Polo with amateur drivers, at night, in the rain, on crests where you don’t know what to expect on the other side. And even the best Formula 1 drivers in our world love this sport with all the dangers it entails. If you look at this weekend’s WEC at Imola, the differences in lap times between prototypes and GT cars were over 10 seconds. Let’s focus on those two priorities I mentioned before and make this sport better and safer. Will it always be the safest sport? No. It’s about understanding what those systems do to the car, how we can reduce risks in particular situations like in the rain or otherwise, but always reminding ourselves that we are the custodians of this sport, that we have a responsibility towards the sport and the opportunity it has given to all of us, rather than looking at the personal advantage or disadvantage derived from whether certain regulations are changed or not.”
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