Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel participated at the FIA prize giving at the Kingdom of Dreams in New Delhi, India, on Friday 9 December 2011, along with Red Bull teammate Mark Webber and McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Press Release

Friday, 09 December 2011

Sebastian Vettel was officially crowned the 2011 Formula One World Champion on Friday 9 December at this year’s dazzling FIA awards ceremony which this year was moved to New Delhi, India, from its traditional venue in Monaco.

The Formula One World Champion has worked closely with the FIA to lobby for improved road safety and to demonstrate to car drivers the safety benefits of technologies like Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

After several years of campaigning by the FIA together with a range of key stakeholders though the European Commission supported eSafety Challenge activity, all new car models in the EU must today be fitted with the eSafety technology Electronic Stability Control (ESC). This change is the result of an EU regulation which came into effect in November 2011.

Sebastian Vettel said, “ESC is one of the most important safety innovations since the seatbelt. You would never even consider buying a car without a seatbelt – the same principle should apply for ESC. It’s great news that the technology is now compulsory on all new car models across Europe”.

While cars today are much safer that they were 10-15 years ago and equipped with crumple zones, seatbelts, and air bags, new technologies like ESC can help avoid crashes from happening in the first place. The technology becomes active when a driver loses control of the vehicle, then identifies the risk of a skid and uses the vehicle’s brakes to steer the vehicle safely back on track. According to studies by the eSafety Challenge, while at least 40% of fatal road accidents are the result of skidding, ESC has the potential to reduce skidding accidents by up to 80%.

Jean Todt, President of the FIA and eSafetyAware organisation said, “I would like to thank all the organisations who have worked so hard together with us to raise awareness of the life-saving potential of advanced safety technologies. It is great to see now that all new cars will be equipped with ESC as this alone could save 4,000 lives each year in Europe and prevent more than 100,000 injuries once fitted to all cars."

The eSafety Challenge has just produced a brochure which is made available for driving schools and Automobile Clubs to continue to inform and educate young drivers about the life-saving potential of eSafety technologies after the project’s end. The education campaign is a joint between the eSafety Challenge project and the EFA European Driving Schools Association (EFA). It can be downloaded for use at: www.eSafetyChallenge.eu

Notes to Editors:

The eSafety Challenge project is co-funded by the European Commission, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), FIA Foundation and eSafetyAware (39 organisations representing a wide range of automotive stakeholders). The key eSafety applications promoted by the eSafety Challenge are: Electronic Stability Control, Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Support Systems, Speed Alert, Warning and Emergency Braking Systems, Adaptive Headlights. The project comes to an end on 31 December 2011. For the eSafety Challenge website please consult: www.eSafetyChallenge.eu

For more information please contact Niall Carty, Communications Manager, FIA Region I: ncarty@fia.com (Tel: 0032 2 282 0812 or 0032 486 650 216).