Safety car changes made

Changes have been made to the safety car regulations from Sunday's European Grand Prix onwards in the light of Michael Schumacher's controversial crash in Monaco last weekend.

Schumacher, aiming for a record sixth straight win at the start of the campaign, was nudged into the wall in Monaco's tunnel by Juan Pablo Montoya as the pair braked hard behind the safety car.

The Ferrari driver had been attempting to warm his brakes and tyres with the safety car due to return to the pit-lane only for Williams' Montoya to fail to slow sufficiently behind and run into the back of him.

But in a letter to the ten teams at the Nurburgring, FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting outlined a new format for the deployment and running of safety car periods in a bid to make them safer in future.

"Following the race in Monaco it became clear that whilst the safety car was deployed, some cars were being driven at a pace which was clearly too fast for the prevailing conditions," the FIA said in the letter.

"In order to ensure cars are driven in a safe and consistent manner during the lap before the safety car returns to the pits the lights on the car will be extinguished as it enters the pits," the letter added.



Previously, drivers had been given a one-lap warning that the safety car would be heading into the pits and that has allowed them to employ tactics like Schumacher's to improve their car's performance at the re-start.

The safety car periods also see some frantic action in the pits when teams call their drivers in immediately to take advantage of the slow running and take on fuel and tyres for a minimum time loss.

But that action will now be stopped because the pits will be closed when the safety car is deployed and will not open again until all the cars are in a line travelling slowly.

"When the message 'safety car is deployed' appears on the timing monitors the pit exit will be closed to all cars except any that are in the pits (at that time)," the letter explained.

"The pit exit will remain closed until the safety car passes the pit exit with all cars clearly in a line behind it."