---

Lear and Stewart Grand Prix Put Drivers' Safety First

30 October 1998

Lear and Stewart Grand Prix Put Drivers' Safety First

    SUZUKA, Japan, Oct. 30 -- A revolutionary extractable seat,
described by Professor Sid Watkins, President of the FIA Medical Commission,
as an enormous breakthrough in Formula One driver safety, was unveiled at the
Japanese Grand Prix today.
    The extractable seat is the product of collaboration between technical and
design engineers at Lear Corporation , one of the world's largest
automotive suppliers, Stewart Grand Prix (SGP) Technical Director Alan
Jenkins, and the FIA.
    The FIA's Technical Working Group has adopted the technical specification
from the prototype designed and developed by Lear and SGP in conjunction with
Professor Watkins and Charlie Whiting, the FIA Safety Delegate.  This type of
seat will be mandatory on all Formula One cars from January 1, 1999.
    Welcoming the innovation, Professor Watkins said:  "Formula One has taken
several huge steps in terms of safety in the last five years, particularly
since the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994.  I think this seat is the next
enormous step in terms of something that's directly applied to the driver
rather than the car."
    The extractable design enables medical crews to remove a driver from the
cockpit in his seat thus minimizing the risk of spinal injury.  It also
provides a means of securing and immobilizing the driver's head and body for
extraction.
    Professor Watkins added:  "It's going to be 100 percent better than moving
somebody in the cockpit and putting a spinal splint on.  And it's going to be
a lot quicker.  It will significantly enhance our efforts towards fine-honing
the medical response."
    Jackie Stewart, who has been at the forefront of motor sport safety
campaigns for three decades, added:  "It has been some time now since there's
been an opportunity to provide this kind of protection for the driver and
offer this kind of benefit to medical/safety crews.  Professor Watkins has
been a staunch advocate of improved safety and he was one of the first to see
the potential of this seat.  I think that this is going to be marked down as a
significant arrival for the sport."
    Dan Jannette, President of the Technology Division of Lear Corporation,
said:  "Lear Corporation and Stewart Grand Prix have developed the extractable
seat in the best interests of safety in motor sports.  The FIA has been
seeking this kind of breakthrough technology for many years and Lear is
pleased to have played a major role in developing this new safety system."
    A Fortune 500 Company, Lear Corporation is one of the world's largest
automotive suppliers, with 1997 sales revenues of $7.3 billion.  The company's
world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by more than
60,000 employees in over 200 facilities located in 28 countries.  Lear's
15-year compounded annual growth rate for sales and operating income is over
30 percent.  Information about Lear and its products is available on the
Internet at http://www.lear.com.