FIA approve new F1 safety system

Formula One's safety car regulations have been revised ahead of the 2009 season after the sport's governing body the FIA approved a new system to ensure cars return to the pit lane at reduced speeds.

The new system will see drivers informed of their minimum expected time to recover to the pits based on where they are on track at the time the safety car is deployed, thereby removing the need to close the pit lane.

"The rule introduced in 2007 was a bad one, and we've gone back to the 2006 regulations," Whiting said today.

"The only difference is we intend to implement a minimum time back to the pits.

"When we deploy the safety car, the message will go to all the cars, which will then have a "safety car" mode on their ECUs. As soon as that message gets to the car, it'll know where it is on the circuit, and it'll calculate a minimum time for the driver to get back to the pits.

"The driver will have to respect this and the information will be displayed on his dashboard.

"If you remember, the reason we closed the pit entry was to remove the incentive for the driver to come back to his pit quickly. That's gone now, as you won't be able to reach the pits any quicker than your dashboard display allows you to. "