Beef up safety

Over the past two weeks motor racing has provided a number of reminders that, despite huge improvements in recent decades, there is no room for complacency on the subject of safety.

Mark Webber's win at the German GP two weeks ago came despite a drive-through penalty for colliding with a competitor off the start line. Webber admitted he could not see the other car and blamed the high cockpit sides of modern F1 cars. Others suggested the mirrors on his Red Bull are positioned more to benefit aerodynamics than rearward vision.

Then on July 19th Henry Surtees died in a F2 race in the UK after being struck on the head by an errant wheel from a car that had crashed ahead of him. This despite F1-style cockpit sides and tethers to restrain wheels after an impact.