*Spoiler* CLOSED COCKPITS IN F1 INEVITABLE?

An enclosed cockpit brings with it it's own problem - What if the car rolls over and lands upside down? You then create a situation where a driver is unable to extract himself from the car, which may put him in more danger.

With a semi-enclosed cockpit, or a cockpit with extra roll hoops involved, you need to be careful that you don't hinder the extraction of an injured driver from the cockpit.


Any decision made needs to be carefully thought through and not just a quick fix, knee-jerk reaction that seems to be the solution.

 

Another issue. CLosed cockpits...meaning wipers? What if the wiper stops functioning during a wet race...

 

That's a good point, and looking at the "fighter jet" style of canopy that most people seem to think an F1 car would have to have, how effective would wipers be? They work okay on GT cars because they have a much wider screen area than an F1 car would have.

Then there's the problem of all the dirt/tyre debris/oil etc., etc., that F1 cars tend to collect during a race. If it started to rain late on in a race, the driver would suddenly have to deal with not only having no tyre grip, but also having incredibly diminished/blurred vision out of the canopy as he tried to make his way around the track.

 

Windscreen tear-always would be a bit big.

 

No it wouldn't.

Arton was not killed by something hitting his head.

His accident did however bring about the "horse collars" that now surround the cockpits and have significantly increased the survivability of F1 cars in big shunts.

 

I'm not sure if that's right, is it?

 

His death caused by a wheel impacting his helmet.
There were two points of intrusion by suspension members. One in the visor the other in the helmet itself.
Either intrusion or the impact itself was thought sufficient to be fatal.

 

That's what I thought....so, in fact, a canopy MIGHT have saved him...so a blanket "No it wouldn't" isn't really correct.

 

+1

IIRC, it also bought about the 'bulletproof' visor - his helmet was kind of cleared, but the visor was the weak spot (?)

Cheers,
Ian

 

One never knows for sure but in this case it was a matter of cockpit intrusions.
The impact speed was about 130 MPH. Survivable in today's cars.

 

+1.

Why not ban racing?, that would be safer. What a bunch of nancy pants we have in positions of authority nowadays.

With out ANY risk, life is not worth living. Heck I even let my kids go to the park by themselves why I follow with the dogs. Does them good to learn to look after themselves and get used to the fact that Dad is not always going to be there.
Pete

 

It's a choice that has to be made. And as always it's best to have all the facts and know all the alternatives.

Personally I'd hate to see enclosed F1 cars and I think that the small number of cockpit intrusion accidents doesn't justify such a radical change. But it's not my life on the line and if the drivers call for it I'll accept it.

 

I think seriously we are loosing perspective.

How many open seater racing drivers are at risk per weekend/year? Would it be 20,000, more like 1000 world wide.

Every day more people than that die from disease and hunger in third world countries, that the yearly budget of ONE single F1 team could solve.

Here are we worrying about near misses for, in F1's case, 20 or so people who volunteered to do this. Those starving people didn't.

This sport is becoming simply way over the top and we need to have a good long hard look at ourselves. Death, injury is part or life, some have no choice.
Pete

 

Bingo

 

"...His luck just ran out" was the quote in the movie "Senna".
These twitchy cars will always be dangerous to drive and to spectate up close, it is why it is so damn sexy! I love F1-and if I was talented and weighed 135lb I too would want to be there! Striving to make them safer (they will never be as safe as a walk to the park or driving a Buick) is noble and right. Just so long as they don't look like Indy Cars (bleck)

 

Ooops - memory fail

Thanks for the correction.

 

No great memory here. I looked it up.

 

Cheers - I should have done that check before posting

 

Shocking footage of the incident: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOmvQmmyN2Y/UEkveRTIp-I/AAAAAAAABY0/7KrTXxdNMss/s1600/Grosjean_002

 

Now that was good. Thanks for posting it.


Mark

 

Please explain why?

What is the advantage of having cars that can be compared to Russian Roulette when racing?

In the past there were F 1 cars with open and enclosed wheels and it was up to the factory or the team, to choose which configuration to use for any one race.
A.

 

Haha

 

Brilliant love it..

 

AFAIK only Merc had enclosed wheels and only in one or two years. By now I'm pretty sure that is no longer allowed.

F1 open wheels to me goes hand in hand with open cockpits. I want to be able to see the drivers helmets. As soon as you enclose the cockpit you won't be able to see their helmets anymore because of the glass and the reflections etc. Just look at Le Mans cars.

Head injuries are extremely rare. If one injury in ten years is reason enough to drastically change the formula and it's 70+ years of tradition then you might as well cover the wheels, add bumpers, airbags and speed limits.

 

I like this camera view personally:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DyYfgj5gUSs/UEP-vtjmHNI/AAAAAAAAIu0/6gy_vlgXfSg/s497/gif4.gif

LOL @ Fernando's life flashing before his eyes