Word: fia
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Many of the drivers on the Grand Prix circuit blamed a spate of crashes this season on an effort by the International Federation of Automobiles (FIA), Formula One's Paris-based governing body, to sharpen competition by banning the use of high-tech devices thought to give the richer racing teams an unfair advantage. In doing so, the drivers charged, the federation had made the sport far more dangerous. Senna himself had expressed misgivings even before the start of the season. "It's a great error to remove the electronics from the cars," he said. "The cars are very fast...
...with the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger -- a view supported by some Formula One engineers. But in Brazil the fans were not listening to explanations. Some of those who filed past Senna's coffin carried placards calling the federation ASSASSINOS. Senna's younger brother Leonardo blamed the FIA as well as Formula One team owners, insinuating that they cut back on safety measures to make races more exciting and thus attract more spectators. "In Formula One it seems people only think about money," he said...
Others were not so certain that the FIA alone was to blame. The owner of Ratzenberger's Simtek Ford said his driver's fatal accident was caused by a malfunction in the front end of the car. Might Senna's crash have been a case of driver error? "Ayrton Senna made a mistake," Carweek magazine quoted Williams-Renault technical director Patrick Head as saying. "We have checked the telemetry. He slightly lifted his foot just at that dip in the place where the tarmac changes. That caused a loss of grip from the car." A Williams spokesman later denied that...
After the disastrous weekend, the FIA board of directors met in emergency session, but the only decision it made was one designed to improve safety in the pits -- a reaction to a relatively minor mishap in which a wheel flew off a car and hurtled into the Ferrari pit, injuring three mechanics. The federation also announced that it would study the possibility of installing speed controls on Formula One cars, and that it would consider requiring the installation of air bags to prevent the kind of head injuries that apparently killed Ratzenberger and Senna. After the race, Italian officials launched...
Lauda gives the FIA the benefit of the doubt. Drivers, he explains, "see accidents happen but nobody getting hurt, and they stop thinking about what is really at risk. If we start believing that motor racing is not dangerous, then we are all stupid. It's almost as though God has held his hand over Formula One. At Imola, he took it away. And we saw again the brutal reality of what Formula One racing is all about...