Haug: "Monaco without electronic aids is a risk for pilots"

The head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Norbert Haug hopes that the Formula 1 drivers will be able to avoid the pitfalls of the Monaco track next weekend, considering the further difficulty represented this year by the abolition of electronic driving aids and of traction control: "I hope no one gets hurt, but we have to expect numerous phases of the race with the safety car on the track" – Haug told the German newspaper Bild. "Before the introduction of electronic aids there was an interruption every ten minutes and I therefore assume that with the new ban the stops are more frequent than before"

The 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg also supports this thesis, underlining that today's cars are even more difficult to control than when he competed, particularly on the Monaco track: "Now there is less margin for a possible error. In my time, braking distances were longer and we had larger tyres. The cars of today are more complex to control."

(d.08)