News Service from House Harris

Mot: Fears new braking power generators could be a safety risk

MELBOURNE, March 27 AAP - The spectre of Mika Hakkinen's life-saving trackside procedure during the 1995 Australian Grand Prix has returned to unsettle Formula One drivers.

Mark Webber said drivers were concerned about the possibility of a driver, in a car is using the new energy redistribution system, needing immediate attention after a serious accident.

The Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) gives cars a significant power boost but also carries the risk of a potential electric shock.

The extra energy stored in the car is supposed to be dissipated within two seconds if the car comes to a sudden stop - but track marshalls are required to wear special clothing in case of failure.

They must handle the car wearing gloves designed to withstand a 1000-volt shock - but doctors cannot operate urgently with the gloves.

Hakkinen, the Finnish dual world champion, crashed badly in Adelaide in 1995 and his life was saved only after a doctor performed an emergency tracheotomy trackside.

Webber, a key member of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, said on Friday the drivers had discussed the possibility of delays in intervening after a serious crash.

"As usual you do gain knowledge and experience sometimes on the frontline," the Australian Red Bull driver said.

"Hopefully they have some common sense and know that cars with KERS and cars without KERS need to be treated differently in a state of panic or an emergency.

"We know what procedure Mika had on the day and that was of course what saved his life."

Webber, meanwhile said the Red Bull cars were battling reliability problems today despite his fourth-place finish in practice session two.

"It didn't go that well in the first session, we didn't get many laps in - we had a problem with a seal on the driveshaft and then obviously we were keen to do a bit more running in the second session, which was going to plan until we had another small problem, with the exhaust.

"It was certainly not ideal in terms of reliability today but not too bad pace-wise when we were out there...reasonably encouraged.

"Sebastian (Vettel) also had a few problems today so that was quite a few for the amount of laps we did for both cars in terms of the little niggles that we had.

"And it only takes a small niggle to be a showstopper on Sundays so you want to make sure they're not there."