May 23 (GMM) Toto Wolff thinks the world of premier motor racing might need to revisit the issue of driver age, following an enormous crash at the weekend.
Li Zhi (Peter) Cong is currently in hospital with broken vertebrae, but he was otherwise lucky to survive an incredible rear-end smash into a rival who spun during the top European F3 series race at the Red Bull Ring.
The rival hit by Cong, American Ryan Tveter, collapsed after escaping from his wreckage but is basically unhurt.
Kleine Zeitung, an Austrian newspaper, called it “probably the most spectacular accident of the decade”.
While neither Cong nor Tveter are teenagers, Formula 3 in the past year or so has been the scene of many spectacular and scary incidents.
“The pressure on these young lads is too high,” Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ F1 team boss, said.
“It cannot be a good thing when 16-year-olds are racing in Formula 3. I think a minimum age should be introduced — 18 years for F3 and twenty for formula one.”
Following Max Verstappen’s arrival in F1 last year as a 17-year-old, the governing FIA installed a minimum age of 18 for the pinnacle of motor racing.