Danger had been identified

Formula One's governing body FIA has revealed that safety measures designed to protect race officials were already in the process of being introduced before the tragic death of a marshal in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

The marshal, 51 and from Queensland, died from chest and abdominal injuries. He was hit by a tyre when Jacques Villeneuve's BAR Honda slammed into a wall on the fifth lap after clipping Ralf Schumacher's Williams car.

He was the second marshal to die in six months after a similar fatality in Monza last year.

FIA have launched their own inquiry, due to last around three weeks, into the incident although they believe it will prove to have been a tragic and unavoidable accident.

Director of communications Francesco Longanesi said: "The FIA had already put forward to the World Motorsport Council . . . the proposal from the circuit and safety commission to raise all the fencing at all the Formula One world championships by one metre.

"This would not have saved the poor marshal in this instance because the height of the fencing had nothing to do with it, but it shows how not only car safety but also trackside safety is subject to constant study."

FIA are also close to completing a project which they believe will drastically reduce the numbers of officials required to be in close proximity to the cars.

They plan to introduce extra electronic elements into cars which would provide signalling through the cockpit in instances such as yellow flags, eliminating the need for a marshal to stand trackside waving a flag.

But Longanesi added that extra safety initiatives to protect marshals could not compromise the safety of the drivers.

The tyre which killed the marshal at Melbourne yesterday sped through a gap in the perimeter fencing in what Australian Grand Prix boss Ron Walker called a "one in a billion accident".

The gap was necessary to allow quick access to the track in cases such as fire.

Meanwhile, David Coulthard insists there is no need to panic despite Michael Schumacher's emphatic victory on Sunday.

The Scot, who finished second in Melbourne, is confident his McLaren team can hit back at Malaysia on Sunday week.

"Of course Michael is a worry - he is a worry even when he is not in a race car," admitted Coulthard, who saw team-mate Mika Hakkinen fail to finish in Melbourne for the third year in a row.

"I know we can we can improve the performance of the car and make it go even better before we get to the next race.

"The team would have preferred if both our cars had finished the first race, but my six points helps keep us quite close with Ferrari."

Coulthard's McLaren boss Ron Dennis admitted that Ferrari had the edge yesterday, in contrast to previous years when his team have arrived in Melbourne with a time advantage over their rivals.

But Dennis is confident the car will be improved in time for Malaysia following a test session in France this week.

"Ferrari has a slight edge on us but we know why and we are pretty sure we will be stronger in Malaysia," he said.

"It takes the first race to know where your weaknesses are and know what you have to do to address them and I am confident we will have by the next race."