As with all motorsport series, safety in Formula E is taken very seriously. With the cars running on 100 per cent electric power, the protocol in the event of a driver needing to be removed quickly from a potentially live vehicle needs to be practiced and perfected in order to guarantee safety of both the driver and the extrication crew.
The extraction team at MDD Motorsport are responsible for the full process of removing a potentially injured driver from a Formula E car. As well as considering any potential head or spinal injuries, the team also need to work carefully to ensure that the electric car is handled correctly.
Roger Lait, Director of MDD Motorsport Medical, said: “If there’s a crash on circuit, then my team go out and extricate the driver from the car in the safest possible manner. If there’s a red car then it means that the body of the car is now live. Anyone who is part of the extrication team is putting themselves in danger of a massive electric shock. We practice this at every race across the world.”
Anthony Clement, part of the extrication team at MDD, said: “The red car is the worst event that we could have. Electricity is invisible so it’s a bit of a hidden danger. When the unfortunate event happens, our medical car will get deployed and make an assessment of the scene. On the back of that, the extrication car will then go out to support. What we see with our live car exercise is that there is a full extrication involved around the electrical hazard and we see a rubber mat go over the car, and the extrication team will stand on rubber to give us resistance to any electrical hazard. The drivers are in a seat that gets removed with the driver. It allows us to get them out without moving their spine or neck.”
To watch a complete demonstration from MDD Motorsport Medical, simply click on the video below.