Formula One Features — April 2000

During 1998, the Ferrari F300 appeared with one of the most visibly striking changes to a Formula1 car for some time. Instead of the twin exhaust pipes emerging under the car, carefully placed relative to the diffuser to gain the most benefit for the aerodynamics, they exited through the top of the bodywork alongside the engine.

Just three races into the 2000 Formula1 World Championship, and it is already clear that it is a two horse race.

Following Mika Hakkinen's accident in Adelaide in 1995, in which he fractured his skull, the FIA initiated a research programme in cooperation with Daimler-Chrysler Research, into driver protection in frontal impacts. The results of that programme will be seen in CART, DTM2000 and other series this year, and in Formula1 next.