F1 teams asked to revise cars after Monger crash

MONACO: Formula One teams have been told to change the rear jack points on their cars for safety reasons after a recent Formula Four accident that cost British teenager Billy Monger his legs.

FIA safety director Laurent Mekies wrote to the teams ahead of Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix seeking modifications to the points at which jacks are engaged to raise the back of cars at pitstops.

“Following several front-torear incidents over the past months in various single-seater categories, the FIA would like all F1 teams to ensure that their rear jacking point designs cannot act aggressively during such an incident,” he wrote.

“Considering the strength, shape and position of the jacking points, they may become one of the initial points of contact in a crash with another car and alter the performance of the crash structure of the other car.

“The use of aggressive designs will not be permitted from the Monaco GP onwards.”

Details of the note were published on the motorsport. com website.

An FIA spokesperson confirmed teams had been written to, without the details being issued to media by the governing body, with a technical meeting scheduled for today in the Mediterranean principality.

Motorsport said some teams had designs that were deemed safe, but others made revisions to ensure the jack points were no longer the first point of contact if a car ran into the back of another.

Monger, 17, had his lower legs amputated after his car smashed into the back of another stationary on track at Britain’s Donington Park circuit last month.

Monaco, although the slowest circuit on the track, has several corners that are taken blind with the risk of hitting stationary cars, although the flag marshals are famed for their skill in warning of hazards and clearing debris.

The harbourside street circuit saw fatal accidents in the 1960s and remains one of the trickiest, with cars skimming the metal barriers and speeding from darkness into the sunlight through a tunnel.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton staked out the boundaries of Formula One’s psychological battleground on Wednesday by saying he would not seek to play with title rival Sebastian Vettel’s mind outside of the car.

His words could, however, in themselves be considered part of the “mind games” masked so far by regular declarations of mutual admiration between the two most successful current drivers.

Ferrari’s Vettel, a four times world champion, heads into the weekend’s showcase Monaco Grand Prix with a six-point lead over Mercedes’ triple title winner Hamilton after two race wins apiece in 2017.

“I take a lot of pride in the fact that I am very strong mentally and I think that’s something you can admire about someone else that you’re fighting, like Sebastian,” Hamilton told reporters.

“He seems solid. I want him to be at his best when he gets in the car so I don’t have any intention of playing psychological wars outside of the car.

“I want to beat him in the car because when he’s at his best, and I beat him, that says what it needs to say rather than have him on the back foot.” – Reuters