Closed cockpits in F1

I was afraid the crash would bring back this stupid idea.

I hope this will never happen.

 

Now comes the over-reaction....driver safety is paramount but really? A little common sense would have gone a long way on Sunday. Funny how the drivers were allegedly told not to talk about the accident. Circling of wagons beginning?

 

I don't think a closed cockpit would have saved him but I believe sooner or later they'll come anyway, like in LeMans lmp1. Probably gradually with a further bigger detachable element over the driver shoulders first

 

Yes they are: They take away the very essence of what a F1 car looks like.

Close the cockpits and cover the wheels and you have a Le Mans car and lost me as a F1 fan.

It's like taking away masts and sails from a sail ship because somebody got hit by the mast. You make it safer and at the same time you destroy its very nature.

The safest F1 race is one that is not held. Lets just cancel the sport.

 

Helmets can already withstand something like 60 tonne of crush force without deforming. This idea is almost redundant and changes the nature of the sport for such little if any gain

 

I agree.

that said, I think it's coming. as mentioned, prototype sports cars are going back to coupes (they seem to switch back and forth every 10 years or so), and IndyCar is talking about it too for their new car in 2018.

 

It might look alright

http://www.gtpla.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/red-bull-x2010.jpg

 

Andreas is right. Closed cockpits and covered wheels aren't the same as adding other safety features because closed cockpits and covered wheels would fundamentally change an F1 car to the point of transforming it into single seater GT car.

Safety is a high priority, up to a point. Making the cars have a top speed of only 100 mph would increase safety. Canceling races when the track is wet would increase safety. Stopping races when there is a crash would increase safety.

And as Andreas said, if you really want to remove danger, just don't race at all.

Closed cockpits and covered wheels for an F1 car is not a good way to go and is a classic example of an overreaction.

-F

 

Any thoughts on what plexiglass shards moving at a very rapid pace could have done to Jules???



Mark

 

I see merit to both @william's and @Tifosi21's points. Safety is usually met with resistance, but that resistance is generally because some measures change the essence of the sport.

Best example I could give is in the NHRA (the largest American drag racing sanctioning body). Nitro powered cars are getting quicker and faster, and in recent times there have been some tragic (and avoidable) deaths.

Rather than mandate teams use LESS nitro fuel (as was done in the past), the NHRA shortened the distance the cars travel (from 1340ft. to 1000ft.).

Historically in the US, drag racing has ALWAYS been 1/4 mile (1340ft). While this change was made in the best interests of safety, I would argue it's been a failure. I can't correlate this change to ratings or attendance, but my own personal view is "I don't like it".

IRL / Indycar - the enclosed wheels look terrible. I never thought the "look" of the car would matter, but it does. If you want to race enclosed cockpit / wheels, then go to LeMans.

Open wheel is called open wheel for a reason. There is a challenge presented by running in a car with said layout. The more logical change would be to red flag a race until clean up, or leave the disabled car on the side (still a hazard though). Perhaps even tighter restrictions around racing in the wet?

Closed cockpit / closed wheels are a "nice" idea. In reality, it would ruin the sport IMHO.

 

I understand the knee-jerk reaction, but I think cooler heads will prevail once the shock dies down.

I think the best safety feature you can implement in such situations is speed control. Yellow Flag = 75mph Double Flag in the hot zone = 50mph

Something like that. I don't want to point fingers or blame, but Jules was clearly going too fast... eveidenced by losing control of the car in the first place and being completely out of control in that accident. it's jus a horrible situation all around.

At least in the sections where the accidents occur it should mandatory bare minimum speed either automatic or give the drivers a button like they have for pit speed. Violate that and you leave from the pits the next race or two.

Bumpers on the front-end loader, closed cockpits, and some of the other things wouldn't have changed much... Jules would have still gone off the track. If he was going 50mph through that zone... he probably would've never left the corner and certainly wouldn't have had the impact he did if he still went off.

I don't see that theres a lot to argue about that safety feature. It effects everyone evenly and fairly and no one has an advantage or disadvantage.

 

We should have started a countdown clock following your prediction this would come up following the crash.

 

+1

What did surprise me though is it was started by the guy who claims crashing deliberately is perfectly acceptable.

Ian

 

Maybe they will enclose motorcycles as well. They're dangerous.

 

This Is debatable. Estimates have Jules traveling at less than 50 mph when he struck the tractor. According to Sutil (who watched the accident from the crash site) Bianchi hit standing water, then hydroplaned off the track, across the wet gravel trap and into the tractor.

Until there is a report indicating otherwise, I think we should give the driver the benefit of the doubt as to his driving manners and role in the accident. Especially in the face of a witness account indicating he was the victim of a water hazard.

 

Nah, training wheels would be much safer!

Cheers,
Ian

 

If anything I would think a closed cockpit would be safer. Again, enough with the stupid ideas.

 

Precisely.

They could attach bungee straps to parachutes also.

 

I think that something along these lines might be a reasonable compromise.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

+1

And likely an unseen water hazard at that. Sutil noted it caught him out on the previous lap.

OTOH, that he went off at all under double waved yellows is an indication he was going too fast unfortunately.

Ian

 

this is a mini-roll hoop on the front. This would have sheared off exactly as the main roll-hoop did as it is obviously meant to withstand a blow from z and not x direction.
This example would only serve to obstruct the driver's view.

 

Yep. 'Best' case it would have been pushed down into the cockpit and sheared his legs..... Then the howls would be "how on earth did they decide that was a good idea!?"

We're about to ruin the entire sport - closed cockpits, enclosed wheels, interminable SC periods, due to one, terrible, unforeseen, freak accident. I sincerely hope not.

Get well soon Jules,
Ian