FIA sets up accident panel to look into the Jules Bianchi crash at Japanese GP

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/20/fia-accident-panel-jules-bianchi-crash-japan-grand-prix

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Ross Brawn, Emerson Fittipaldi and Stefano Domenicali are three of the names on a 10-strong FIA accident panel formed following Jules Bianchi’s crash in Japan.

One of the measures announced by the FIA president, Jean Todt, after Bianchi’s collision with a recovery truck at Suzuka that has left him fighting for his life was the formation of a body to not only look into the incident but also to propose safety recommendations.

The panel is led by Peter Wright, the president of FIA’s safety commission and a member of motorsport’s world governing body since 1995.

A statement from the FIA read: “The group will carry out a full review of the accident to gain a better understanding of what happened, and will propose new measures to reinforce safety at circuits, with recommendations to be made for the FIA president. The work of the group will start this week and a full presentation of its findings is to be made at the next meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on 3 December, 2014, in Doha, Qatar.”

Wright has formed an experienced team around him, notably including one of the most respected figures in Formula One in Brawn, who helped Ferrari win numerous titles during his time at Maranello as technical director.

Following Honda’s exit from Formula One in 2008, Brawn formed his own eponymously named marque, leading them to the drivers’ and constructors’ titles a year later before a takeover by Mercedes.

Although Brawn remained as team principal, he left Mercedes at the end of last year following a dispute over the direction of the team, yet has been rightly credited with the success that has followed this season.

The two-time world champion Fittipaldi, who is also president of the FIA drivers’ commission and a Formula One steward, joins Brawn, along with Domenicali, who for six years until April this year was team principal at Ferrari.

Also on the panel are Gerd Ennser, chief stewards’ representative; Eduardo de Freitas, World Endurance Championship race director; Roger Peart, president of the circuits commission; Gerard Saillant, president of the FIA institute and medical commission; Grand Prix Drivers’ Association president Alex Wurz, and Antonio Rigozzi, a judge who sits on the International Court of Appeal.

The panel will look into the findings of the FIA race director Charlie Whiting, who claimed “a perfect storm” of circumstances conspired against Bianchi and that “nothing more could have been done better” either by his team or the stewards trackside.

The FIA has already proposed an electronically controlled speed limit be imposed on drivers and cars during periods when double-waved yellow flags are in evidence, as was the case during Bianchi’s accident.

There is also the possibility that from next season ‘skirts’ around the bases of recovery vehicles will be introduced given their ground clearance in relation to the height of a cockpit of a Formula One car.